A King's Return
by Kaosreaper4208
Summary: One year before attending Beacon Jaune Arc ends up getting wounded from a strange shadow beast killing him. but with his death another takes his place. RWBYxFate crossover. yes its a harem story again.
1. Chapter 1

A King's Return

Chapter One: The Ripple

A sixteen your old boy with messy blonde hair was walking next to a younger blonde girl who looked to be about 14. The two were walking along a trail next to a small cliff with a river flowing below. The two chatted and laughed as they walked with bags in hand as they returned home. The young blond boy was Jaune Arc and the girl was his younger sister, Lily. Jaune had on a pair of faded blue jeans and a loose fitting white T-shirt and some sneakers.

The two had been out shopping for their mother, picking up groceries for dinner. The two were just enjoying the nice cool breeze that came with Fall as the trees around them had leaf's turning a bright rustic color making the normally green woods into a nice red as the afternoon light fell upon them in a light golden glow. "Ok so what if you found a legless lizard?"

Lilly asked her brother, getting a deadpan stare as he processed her words before he spoke as a small smile formed on his lips. "Um, Lily you do know that's what snakes are right?" He said causing his sisters eyes to narrow than widen as a look of realization spread across her face. She then began to blush at the fact she had just said something stupid. She turned from him with bright pink cheeks.

"S-shut up! I know that; I just wanted to make sure you knew too!" She shouted at him as she then puffed her cheeks as she took a step to her left to put a little distance between her and her brother. Jaune just laughed at her reaction as he then reached out patting her on the head lightly. The action caused her to pout as she lifted her arms above her head, waving them exasperatedly as she shouted at him to stop treating her like a kid.

The action caused Jaune to smile wider but held back his laughter as he then apologized to his sister. She didn't except the apology though as she ran ahead of him spinning on her heels to face him with a cute little glare as she pointed at him. "You won't get off so easy for teasing me!" She shouted at him and then turned away and started to run ahead of him again as they came up to a bridge just a few yards ahead.

Jaune just let out a tired sigh as he then went to jog after his sister. But just as he stepped forward he felt a chill run down his spine as something moved to his right just ahead of him in his peripherals. At that moment all that cheer Jaune had was replaced with a deep fear as he turned to see what it was hiding in the tress. At first he thought somehow a Beowulf had snuck past the town guard only for the thought to get pushed away as he saw something else came into view.

He had no idea what it was but it had the shape of a Beowulf, only it didn't have any of the Grimm markings or bone armor, instead it was like looking at a huge shadow of a Beowulf moving on its own. The things body was transparent to an extent, like it was gas in a jar. The thing had bright red eyes like that of a Grimm which was what caught Jaune's attention as he saw where its gaze landed. The creature was looking right at his sister as it seemed to lean forward for a lunge, lifting up shadowy arms.

At that moment Jaune didn't think, he didn't plan, he just ran shouting to his sister to run as he dropped his bags sprinting full speed towards Lilly. But instead of running she stopped and turned to see what he was yelling about as she turned only to see the strange shadow beast coming towards her from the tree line. At that moment Lily froze in terror at the sight of the creature unable to understand what was happening as it started to close in on her.

The beast was fast and it was closing the distance between her and it with ease pushing past brush like it wasn't there. The moment it was upon her she closed her eyes and screamed. As she felt a pressure on her arm she tensed for a second before she felt herself hit the ground and she opened her eyes expecting to see the beast about to kill her but instead what she saw made her heart sink. Before her was Jaune with the shadow beast that had charged her, clamping its jaws onto his right shoulder with its claws digging into his sides.

See watched as the beast and her brother both flew to the edge of the cliff and fall towards the cold river below. As they fell she shouted out her brother's name in some desperate hope that this wasn't happening as she watched him and the beast crash into the river twenty feet below.

"JAUNE!"

Jaune watched as he fell looking into the now tear filled eyes of his sister as he fell, only able to tell the fact that she was shouting by the movement of her lips till he felt a cold rush as everything was enveloped by water. As he started to sink, all he could think was, 'at least Lily is safe.' As he slowly drifted down the river under the water with some shadow beast. As he sank he watched the sun's light fading above him as he tried to grasp what he did.

He knew he saved his sister but he had to sacrifice himself and now here he was being taken down stream in a freezing cold river and then nothing. His consciousness just faded as the last visage of light disappeared. The young blonde's body just began to sink deeper and deeper into the river till finally it hit the muggy bottom.

As the body hit it was engulfed in the puff of sleet and mud as it flew up in the water. When it hit the bottom there was some sort of movement. As the body laid at the bottom of the river the form of a women took shape floating over the body. The women had long silver hair and red eyes with pale skin that almost look like porcelain. She wore a white dress that flowed around in the water in wisps. As she floated she reached down lifting up Jaune's body and covering it in a bright white glow.

The two floated for a second before the women moved to the side of Jaune's body and rested his head in her lap as the surroundings changed. No longer where they under water but sitting atop of what looked to be an endless ocean with a sun setting behind them. The women brushed Jaune's hair from his face lightly as she then closed her eyes holding his head as she began to glow a pale white. Jaune's wounds seemed to fade as healed his body.

When she opened her eyes again she gazed down sadly at the blonde. She didn't say anything, she just brushed his hair again and then mouthed some words and began to fade. Just as she was about to vanish she spoke. "Good luck." Was all she said and then she was gone. The surroundings changed again only instead of being the bottom of the river his body appeared at the shore of the river being washed up.

For a second his body just laid there motionless until he started to cough valiantly spitting up water as he turned himself over. As he let out the last of the water that had been choking him he heaved a little till her opened his eyes to look around. Green eyes paned over the surrounding, trying to piece together what happened. His hand shot to his head as a jolt of pain shot through his mind and flashes of memories started to fill his head.

He fell forward onto the rocky shore holding his head tightly as the memories flooded in. Flashes of different childhoods flowed in and out of his mind as he saw himself in two very different places. One he stood with a wooden training sword in hand with an older man with a well-trimmed blonde beard with his own wooden sword teaching him swordsman ship. The other memory flashed with him standing next to three beautiful young blonde girls with him swinging around a wooden sword for play making the girls laugh.

And the memories went on from him being groomed to him playing like two separate lives had merged and he was being forced to watch them play out at super speeds. Memories of games with sisters he did not know to memories of training with a father who groomed him to be a king. As the memories played he watched another set where he stood before a sword in a study with an older blonde man with messy blonde hair reaching up pulling a sword with a white and gold sheath from its stand and telling him stories of it.

While the other memory was him standing before a golden sword logged in a stone pedestal. He watched as he drew the sword from the stone proving himself to be worthy to be the next king. With memories of a life of fun and then memories of a life of war and battle colliding together he felt as if his mind would explode till the set of memories of him having a cheerful childhood all ended at the point of being attacked by some shadow beast and him sinking into a river.

The end of the first set of memories eased the pain stinging his mind only a little as he felt the second set of memories continue to play out and he waited through them all the way up to his death. He watched as he battled a knight in silver and red armor bitterly trying to kill one another. Till finally he was able to strike down the silver knight splitting his helm revealing a face similar to his own. As the helm fell the knight reached out with blood-soaked hands to touch him only saying one word.

"…. Father."

And then died. And as the memories finally started to come to an end he watched as he laid against a tree bleeding out from a fatal wound that his son had inflicted upon him, and with that he watched himself die. Finally, with the memories ending the young blonde lifted himself up into a seated position at the edge of the river. He let his green eyes roam across the surroundings again as he began to piece together what had happened.

From what he had seen from the flash of memories the boy who in the memories named Jaune Arc seemed to have died saving one of his sisters. A very courageous act if somewhat foolish but still courageous. While that registered in his mind the blonde knew though that he wasn't Jaune Arc. No, he was from the second set of memories. He was Arthur Pendragon, the former king of knights. As he sat on the edge of the river he could only stare in both confusion and wonder at what had happened.

It seems when Jaune had died whilst Arthur was given a second chance at life being given Jaune's body. Something that felt wrong in his opinion. If Jaune's death wasn't an accident that meant someone wanted Arthur to take his place and killed him for that sole purpose. He could only assume that a mage of great power had played a role in his return to life. He could only guess from the mages he had known in his past life could have the power to do such a thing.

One of which being Merlin but even with Merlin being the one who had helped Arthur's father infuse him with the powers of a dragon he was still his friend and teacher who had been with him up to the last battle. Arthur couldn't truly see Merlin betraying him seeing as the mage had been so loyal to his father and guided him throughout so much in his life.

That left his sister Morgan le Fay. Yes, his sister had plotted to have his kingdom of Camelot over thrown by their son Mordred but she could not have lasted as long as it has been sense Arthur had last lived. At least he hoped for that to be, Arthur lifted himself from his seated position he looked around hoping to find a way back up the side of the cliff. He looked down at his body to see he no longer was covered in water and wondered if it was because of the blessing he had been granted from the lady of the lake Vivian taking affect.

As he thought this he heard voices calling from above. He turned his gaze up words to see the edge of the cliff. He watched as several people where running along the edge of the cliffs above. There was about 5 of them all running up and down the cliff just far enough from the edge not to fall off themselves. All of them were shouting one name.

"JAUNE!"

As he heard the man he understood what was happening. 'It must be my family…' he stopped that train of thought and shook his head. 'No not my family, Jaune's family. They must be looking for him.' He then looked up at them as he started to wonder about what this all meant. If they were looking for Jaune then what would he do? He can't just go up there and tell them he is some long dead king who just took their dead sons body for himself even if he had no say in the matter.

He couldn't do something like that. It's just wrong and he doubted anyone would believe such a tale, he barely believed it and only because of his connection to the mage world. That left him with two choices and both would end up changing that family's life forever. He lowered his head sadly as he continued to hear the shouts of Jaune's family above him. The choices he had now was either he went up there and pretended to be their son using the memories he had to play it off the best he could, or he just waited them out and let them think their son was dead.

Both choices had repercussions that would ripple through Jaune's family with devastating effect. On the one hand if he let them think he was dead he wouldn't truly be lying seeing as their son was gone and he was replacing him if only in mind but still replacing him. While at the same time he would let a family go through the loss of a son a terrible thing he had experience in. even if he had been the one to kill his son that didn't mean he had true wanted to he was just left with no choice but to kill him, yet that did not justify his actions.

He had killed his son, his own flesh and blood even if his son was born through sin he still knew had things been different he could have raise Mordred, he could have been deserving of him calling him his father of being his murderer. The pain of the act was great but the fact he had lost his son was still an even greater pain only made worse by the fact he killed him. That left him wondering if he could truly let that family go through the pain of losing their son.

With that thought he swallowed his fears and took a deep breath. He wasn't going to let that family suffer, he wouldn't let them go through such a tragedy. He took one last deep breath and then answer to the calls of Jaune's family.

"I'm down here!"

He shouted up the cliff making Jaune's family and run to the direction of where his voice came. As they came closer and closer Arthur started to have second thoughts about what he was doing as he waited. He knew what he was doing was wrong, he knew that once he did this he could never go back. So as he waited he continued to think about how wrong this was till he was pulled from his thoughts as a voice rang out.

"JAUNE!"

He looked up to see a young blonde hair girl leaning over the edge of the cliff being held back by two more older girls one with a mixture of black and blonde hair while the other had just flat black hair. Arthur looked through Jaune's memories to identify the girls. The youngest one being held back was Lily the sister Jaune had died saving while the other two where his older sisters May and Clarisse. He could see the relief in their eyes as he enhanced his eye sight to see them while he could see tears streaming down their cheeks as they looked down at him.

He was about to take a step back out of fear as he thought about how terrible of an act he was committing wishing he just could vanish and give those girls back their brother. His foot slid back some only to stop when another voice rang out and then he saw an older man with messy Blonde hair jump over the edge of the cliff and come falling down towards him. The act caught Arthur of guard as he watched the larger man come crashing down into the rocky side of the cliff with a heavy thud.

The man stood slowly as he turned to look Arthur over. The man slowly made his way towards him with concern filled eyes as he lifted his hands to hold him as his eyes fell on all the rips in Arthur's clothing. The man took a deep breath as he took it all in giving Arthur time to look through Jaune's memories to get the man's name. As he did he saw that this was Jaune's father Jeremiah Arc a former Huntsman, something akin to the knights of his time.

The old Hunter reached out placing his hands on Arthur's shoulders and pulled him into a hug.

"Thank the gods you are ok."

The old hunter seemed relieved beyond belief as he held onto Arthur. The act making Arthur's stomach knot as he thought about how terrible it would be if this man found out he wasn't his son. He wanted to push away he wanted to run and disappear so he didn't have to do this but he couldn't as he felt something else inside him seem to take hold as he returned the embrace.

He was confused by his actions till he realized that he was acting because of the emotions with in Jaune's memories driving him. That was why he didn't let them think he died or why he isn't telling him he isn't Jaune. No he was a small part of him still was Jaune the part that wanted to see this family smile was the part that was Jaune making Arthur act. With that realization he started to plan for the future.

He didn't know how long him pretending to be the true Jaune but knowing he at least had a part of him inside of himself meant he could bring Jaune back. So for as long as it will take Arthur will stay and try to return this family's son to them, but for now he would take his place.

"Yeah, I'm ok."

He said as he felt the emotions controlling him. Took a shaky breath and waited till Jeremiah broke the embrace. It took a minute but finally Jeremiah let him go. The old Hunter looked him over again and then turn back to look up the cliff side.

"He's ok!"

The moment Jeremiah shouted this Arthur and the old hunter could the girls at the top all shouting incoherently about how thankful they were. Arthur then turned to Jeremiah and then back up to the girls and felt a small smile form on his lips. 'I guess I did the right thing.' He thought as he then took a deep breath and patted the old Hunter on the shoulder.

"Um, father we should get up there now."

He spoke in a polite manor like he did his own father. The only thing is the act seemed to surprise Jeremiah as he turned back with a surprised look. This caught Arthur off guard as he wondered what he did wrong. Then he realized in all of Jaune's memories he never once said father only ever dad or old man. Very rude things to say but it was how he was and now Arthur just went and screwed up by acting like well himself over Jaune.

He took a step back worriedly as Jeremiah stared at him for a second before he began to laugh. The action surprised Arthur even more as he was now confused on what was happening.

"You must have really hit your head hard if you're calling me father now." The old hunter said as he reached out patting Arthur on the shoulder.

"Alright, if you're calling me father that must mean you really want to get up to your sisters so I won't stop you!"

The old Hunter cheered as he then reached out and lifted Arthur onto his shoulder and jumped back up the side of the cliff to where the girls were. But before Jeremiah could even bend his knees to jump Arthur acted on reflex and kneed the old Hunter in the face making him drop him. Jeremiah and Arthur fell to the ground the old hunter holding his face in pain while Arthur rolled into a crouch. He quickly moved to Jeremiah's side though and began to apologize.

"I'm so sorry you just caught me off guard." The former king apologized as he helped the old Hunter stand up. Again all he did was laugh as he patted Arthur on the shoulder.

"No, Don't worry about it. I should have known you would be jumpy after everything that has happened."

Jeremiah said with a smile as he patted Arthur on the shoulder. The former king froze slightly at the fact he was called Jaune but he held back his urge to correct him and just looked down to the stones at his feet like they were the most interesting thing ever. The act didn't go unnoticed by Jeremiah who lost his smile and squeezed Arthurs shoulder lightly. The old hunter then began to explain they would be climbing back up the cliff and that he would help him if he needed it.

Arthur just nodded and let the old hunter lead the way. It only took a couple of minutes to climb up the cliff side and not once did Arthur ask Jeremiah for help. Once they were finally at the top Jeremiah's daughters helped them over the edge and back onto the cliff. Once Arthur was away from the edge of the cliff the three daughters all hugged Jaune while his mother who had been with them stood to the side smiling.

The whole ordeal left Arthur confused but he returned each hug and apologized for worrying them the best he could to convince them he was Jaune. Which didn't seem to be a problem seeing as none of the girls seem to care for that as they all just hugged him repeatedly. An act Arthur would have been more than fine with. He was finally let go by Clarisse and May only for Lily to be the last one holding him almost as if never wanting to lit go.

She hadn't stopped crying either since he got back up the cliff as she just held him. She was young and she had been there when Jaune went over the edge so Arthur could understand why she was so desperate to keep her hold on him. He just hugged her back and looked up to the others. These people will be his family now until he could find a way to return them their true son. So he just took a deep breath smiled at them.

"Let's go home."

That was all he had to say for them all to agree and start on their way home. As they walked Lily clung to Arthur's side refusing to let go saying she never wanted to lose him again. Though he felt some guilt for not really being Jaune, Arthur let it been and smiled down to Lily.

"Don't worry, you will never lose me." He said smiling at her making her blush some but smile as she just held his arm tighter. With that Arthur made his resolve to bring back Jaune.

 ** _End of Chapter 1_**

 **AN/ Yea new story. Please do leave a review and fav and follow if you wish.**


	2. Chapter 2

A king's return

Chapter 2 learning.

Arthur stood in a small clearing in the woods a little after midnight. The shattered moon resting high in the sky over head lighting his surroundings for him. It has been about a week sense he joined the Arc family. In that time Arthur has come to understand things about this new world he found himself in. one being well the moon was shattered. Something that unsettled him to no end. The second thing he learned was the name of the world was Remnant.

It was an interesting thing that people had changed the name of the world from earth to remnant. He wondered if that had anything to do with the shattered moon. The third thing he learned was there where monsters that plagued the land known as creatures of Grimm. From what he could tell these Grimm where beasts born from darkness with the sole desire to kill human's. The fourth thing he learned was that there is a subspecies of human's known as Faunus.

It seemed these Faunus where a hybrid of human and animal. Something Arthur wasn't surprised by seeing as there were plenty of hybrid like creatures back during his time when he ruled Camelot. One of those hybrids was Merlin who was half human and half incubus. So with that knowledge all Arthur could assume is that over time more and more hybrids must have come to be and that is what led to the birth of these Faunus.

At least that was his theory but he wouldn't share it with others. With the knowledge he was gaining he had also decided he should investigate into what had happened to Jaune. The first thing that he decided to look into was what the shadow beast was that killed Jaune. From what he could read up on the creatures of Grimm all of which were of some sort of ancient beast, or at least in the form of an ancient beast.

One of the most common of these Grimm was a Beowulf, beast resembling the Lycanthropes of his era. The most notable difference being the names and how both creature acted. The Lycanthropes were purely nocturnal supposedly said to only appear on full moons, something Arthur knew would never happen in this current era. The second difference was that Lycanthropes where once human themselves having turned form into blood thirsty beasts by a curse.

The Beowulf's were not like that seeing as they were never human to begin with, at least says the book Arthur had read. Arthur could continue with his mental comparisons all night but that wasn't why he was out in the woods. He had seen the strange shadow beast in Jaune's memories allowing him to at least have some idea as to what he was hunting. The beast seemed to be some physical manifestation of mama being controlled by some unidentified being or person.

The only way such a thing was possible was through mage craft or true magic, both of which don't seem to be known in this world. Even with warriors like the Huntsman and Huntresses the world doesn't know of magic. This means that either someone is hiding it or it had died out to the point of almost non-existence. Both of which meant who ever had brought Arthur back wasn't going to be easy to find.

With a sigh Arthur decided he would think more on the subject later, for now though he will start on training his new body. Yes he was still the king of knights and yes he still remember all of the skills and techniques he learned when he was king, and yes he did have the power of a dragon but that meant nothing if he didn't have a body that could handle that power.

So far he knew he could control some of his original powers like his ability to control the "invisible air" (Bounded field of the wind king.) the sheath of wind he used to cover Excalibur and seal its power as well as to hide the sword from onlookers to help conceal his identity. It might not be needed now seeing as no one knew of Camelot or any of the other great kingdoms that once ruled.

But that didn't mean he would just up and forget about the power seeing as it was one of the most useful once he had. So over the past week he has been trying to control the "invisible air" as well as summon his armor and sword. The latter being far more difficult seeing as his body wasn't very used to letting prona flow through it to activate the magical circuits in his body.

Still he was able to manifest the armor and sword to an extent seeing as they could take form for a second but wouldn't last. He had decided it would be good to practice controlling the "invisible air" to get his body used to controlling mana and magecraft. Using focused wind mana was a difficult task for some but luckily Arthur had been trained by one of the greatest mages ever to live.

So when Arthur first tried using the "Invisible Air" it had worked fairly well allowing him to turn a fork he was holding invisible for a short time. The only thing was is he turned the fork invisible while he was having dinner with Jeremiah and the girls. Needless to say he had to answer some questions. All the girls began hounding him for answers as well as mentioned how cool it was while two of them threatened to kill him if he tried peeping on them.

With all that Arthur couldn't answer any of the question as he got lost in the wave of them that hit him. Luckily for him though Jeremiah came to his rescue stopping all the questions by explaining what it was. Something Arthur had first been shocked by when heard Jeremiah but it was pushed aside when Jeremiah went on to tell them about this power called aura.

Jeremiah explained that aura was the manifestation of a person's soul allowing them to defend against attacks that would normally be fatal as well as give them the ability to control something called a semblance. All of the information was very good to hear as he let Jeremiah explain more.

As he did Arthur decided it would be a good idea to learn more on the subject for when he needed to explain his powers in the future. After wards the old hunter told them that was why Jaune had survived the attack from that shadow beast saying that his aura had been forced to activate to save his life. He also said that was why his eyes were green as well.

That hadn't been the first time his eye color had been mentioned seeing as the first few days after showing up the girls had all asked why his eyes had turned green. In the beginning Arthur had no idea what to say but thanks to Jeremiah he finally gave an answer to that question. Still he knew that wasn't true. He knew because his eyes had always been green. Meaning that when he and Jaune had merged for lack of a better explanation his eyes had taken place of Jaune's.

He was grateful for Jeremiah to be able to help clear up some things with the girls, but he wondered why Jeremiah had waited so long before sharing the information. Arthur pushed the thoughts aside to continue with his training. He will need to get himself back to full strength if he was going to try and return Jaune back. He knew it would mean in his own death but he was fine with that if he could give the Arc family back their real son. And with that he began training in regaining his full power.

2 months later.

Arthur sat with Lily on a light blue bed and a book resting in his lap. He was reading her a story. But not just any story it was his story, at least the story of the king of knights. He told her he had decided to write her a story to read to her when she asked and began writing down his life story. It helped him with the change of being Arthur Pendragon to being Jaune Arc.

In doing so he found it easier to tell Lily his life story over just lie to her none stop. So in a why when he read her the story he was telling her who he was. While in reality she just thought it was a great fairy tale her brother made just for her. Even with that truth known he just wanted to believe his own little fantasy.

At times when he read to her he wondered if his life had been different and he wasn't the heir to the throne of Camelot would he and his sister Morgan's relationship have been like this. He would have enjoyed that as he would have had a proper relationship with his sister over what had truly happened. Still though when he had wrote the story for Lily he had made sure to keep all the gruesome parts of his history to make it more suitable for her.

He read her his story from beginning to end making sure to leave out any of the terrible acts he had done as well as the sins he committed as well as the truth behind the revolution saying it was by an evil witch who had corrupted the land. Some of which was true but he had left out the fact that the witch was his sister and the leader of the revolution was his own son. But still the story made Lily jump up in down in joy as she cheered for the king of knights.

It was nice to see her cheering and smiling at the story but he knew that with this false retailing all he was doing was building his own ego by making himself to look like a fairy tale hero. But he knew that the hero he had been was hated that the king he became was no longer human. It was just like Merlin had predicted he die a miserable death while resented by humanity.

All of it had come true, but Arthur didn't regret his decision's he knew that he made the right choice even if the outcome wasn't what he had wished for. He couldn't change his fate so he had resigned himself to it and was willing to let it be and if telling this girl a fantasized version of his life was wrong he didn't care because he was happy to let her believe that the great king of knights was indeed that, great.

"And with one finally swing of his sword the king of knights purged the land of all evil saving his kingdom."'

Arthur spoke reading the last lines of the story to Lily and closing the book. The young blonde girl just jumped up throwing her hands above her head with a woohoo. As she than jumped and hugged Arthur.

"That was such a good story Jaune."

She cheered him as she jumped back from her brother with a huge smile.

"The king of knights was so strong and cool!"

She squealed as she spun around pretending to be swinging a sword around as she began retail the parts she like from the story. This went on for a few minutes before Lily finally calmed down and fell into her brother's lap. She had her back against his chest as she let out a few laughs as she just rested on him.

Arthur didn't mind he found it nice to just be in the young girl's presence as she seemed to make him smile.

"I'm glad you liked the story so much."

He said wrapping his arms around her waist hugging her for a second. When he let go he lifted her up so he could stand.

"I am going out now you should get some rest ok."

He said with a smile kissing her on the top of the head and turned to leave only to stop when Lily reached out and grabbed his sleeve. He turned back to see her staring at him worriedly as she held him in place.

"Jaune are you ok?"

She asked as she tightened her hold on his sleeve. He was caught off guard by the act but quickly pushed the surprise away as he knelt down in front of her reaching up and patted her on the head.

"Don't worry Lily I am ok, there's nothing for you to be concerned about."

He leaned forward resting his forehead on hers causing her to blush some but she just closed her eyes and let him.

"So I won't loss you again right?"

She asked quietly not wanting to let the moment end. Arthur just let a small smile spread across his lips as he chuckled at her question.

"Don't you worry I give you my word that you will never lose me."

He said as he then pulled her into another hug. She gave her own hug back as she just smiled into the crook of his neck. She didn't know what happened but she knew that after the attack Jaune had changed but she was just happy to see that he was back and she could careless that he was different, she was just glade he was still with her.

"Thank you Jaune."

With that she broke the embrace and let her brother go. As Arthur let go of Lily he gave her one last kiss on the forehead then said good bye and walked out. As Arthur left Lily walked down the hall and down a set of stares as he looked at the walls with photos placed along them. He saw all seven of Jaune's sisters and Jaune in one photo on the left where Jaune had on what looked to be a dress. Something Arthur would have laughed had he not well been Jaune at the moment.

Still though he chuckled internally. As he looked at the photos across the wall he was surprised at every time he saw Jaune. It was odd seeing as he and Jaune look so similar to one another. Jaune was only just a little disheveled in comparison. If Arthur guess he bet he would have looked more like Jaune if he wasn't raised with noble blood.

It was quiet surprising. He pushed the thoughts away and simply continued on and out of the house passing by several of the girls who were sitting in front of the hearth letting its fire warm them. The three waved to him and he gave a nod in return and then continued to make his way out of the house. He was on his way to continue the training he had started 2 months earlier. In the beginning he worked on his physical improvement alongside letting his body get accustomed to using magecraft.

Even if he had a small understanding of it the magecraft he did know would be invaluable to him in the future. So after starting his training he had been surprised to find that Jaune wasn't as lacking in the muscles department seeing as he had the build of a square. It was a nice surprise seeing as it just meant Arthur would only had to continue on the normal training he had done when he was groomed to be king.

Which mean he had more time to work on his magecraft. So after the first month he had decided it would be a good idea to test himself against someone in battle to see how much he had improved. He went to Jeremiah asking him if he could help him training saying he never wanted to be so weak as to be caught off guard by the creatures of Grimm or another shadow beast.

Jeremiah had refused at first but thanks to Arthur's having been trained in persuasion he was able to convince Jeremiah to help him. So Jeremiah had set Arthur up with a wooden training sword while he took on a blunted wooden spear. The two set themselves up in the back yard in a large sad ring and took ready stance. Jeremiah had been caught off guard by Arthur when he saw him take a perfect stance. His legs spread shoulder length apart knees bent and sword held tight.

The stance was a standard stance that many swords men started with but it was also one of the most versatile being able to let the fighter shift their stance. After the fight Jeremiah had lost thanks to Arthurs having more experience and the "invisible air". Using it to turn the wooden sword invisible Arthur had gained the upper hand and defeated Jeremiah. While he said it was his semblance that let him beat Jeremiah in truth he knew it was his experience in combat that gave him the edge while he still wasn't at full strength he was still able to use all the skills and tactics he had learned in swordsmen ship to win.

After the fight Jeremiah had said he was very impressed with how well Arthur had done and would be more than willing to help him train more but only after he got the rust out so he could fight him at full strength. Now most would assume the old Hunter was only making and excuse as to why he lost but Arthur knew better as he could see when fighting Jeremiah that the man was having trouble taking certain attacks.

It was obvious the man hadn't been in a real fight for some time and his movements proved it along with the day after the fight Jeremiah stayed in bed because he was sore. It was pretty fun at first but Arthur choose to stay quiet and not let on that he was amused. So now after another month of training Arthur was going to continue with trying to summon his sword. He was capable of summoning his armor now but his sword was still difficult to summon. So as he continued on his way out of the house he went to the clearing in the woods just behind the house and continued to train.

With that his training would continue on like this till he was finally back to full to strength and he could start learning more about what had happened to him and Jaune. And when he at least had a better hold on his power he will start his search for answers. He had already started to search for some answers. So far all he's learned is he and Lily weren't the only ones to encounter a shadow beast.

With that he had found he needed to regain his powers quickly so he could investigate the matter.

3 months later.

Arthur stood at the edge of cliff just next to the bridge that connected the Arc house hold to the village of Eden. It was just a little after midnight as he stood inn his armor searching the edge of the cliff for any signs to help him understand. He was wearing his signature long blue and white coat with a full body chest piece on over it. His shoulder guards fanned out in the back over the back of his chest piece and held riveted pieces of flexible sheets of metal to help with movement reaching down to just above his elbows.

On his left arm he wore an elbow length bracer with a flexible elbow pad as well as wrist guard that reached down to his knuckles. Both hands had on armored gloves to protect his hands from strikes that might happen to graze them. His right arm had no other guard leaving the long laced weave running up it exposed till it reached his shoulder guard.

For his legs he wore some dark blue thick wool pants with full leg guard that ran up from his armored feet to his thighs covering them in the front completely while his calf's where housed in the shin guard front and back. At his waist he had on an armor belt with some tassets hanging down them to shield his waist and hips.

At his collar he had on an attachable hood that hung down his back connecting at the front with an extra armor piece with leather straps growing under his arms and around his sides to reach up at his back connecting the whole thing. As he was fully geared up he just reached over to check on his left bracers straps and then looked down the edge of the cliff.

'This is the first place those shadow beast were sighted meaning they must have originated from somewhere down stream, and followed it till they got into the village.' He thought as he looked up and down the river using some magecraft to enhance his sight. There was little to see other than the fact that the river had been frozen over. He turned to his left and decided if he was going to investigate anything he should follow the river down to the lake that was feeding it and see what he could find.

He slowly began his trek through the dark woods in search of the one behind the shadow beast as well as the one who was kidnapping villagers. The walk began with little difficulties as he walked for about half an hour before he came upon a small dam that connected to the outer defense walls of the village that the people used as a scouting post so they could warn the village if Grimm attacked.

Now Arthur would have just decided to sneak past as to now alert the guards of his presence but when he moved to find a different point to cross the wall he noticed something odd. Back when Camelot was under siege he would make sure the watchmen would always have two posted on a watch tower with a horn to blow to warn them of attack. Now this was a normal procedure all castle or village guard had adopted to defend their homes.

But here at this damn there were no guards or watchmen. Arthur swept his gaze over the top of the top of the damn and wall to look for anyone manning it only to find nothing. 'This isn't right.' He thought as he lowered himself and slowly made his way through the brush and towards the dam. As he quietly made his way towards the wall he was glade that they had let the brush and trees grow so close to it on the inside making his approach all the more difficult to see.

As he reached the wall of the 20 foot dam he slowed and looked around again for signs of anyone nearby. He felt even more cautious than ever at the fact that the wall was so quiet as well as the fact no one was around. He turned his gaze back up the wall to see if he could see the movement of lanterns or any other light at the top of the wall only to find nothing.

He then turned to look at the entrance to the damn to his left where a dam control room stood connecting to the wall. He could see that there were lights on inside the control room but no movement, either the men were sleeping or they were just so good at their job they never needed to move to make sure the dam was working. He then turned back to look up the wall again for one final check of movement and then controlled the "invisible air" at his feet and jumped easily making his way to the top of the wall.

As made it over the wall he used the "invisible air" again to let him land quietly with no sound. He crouch on the wall and looked up and down it for any sign of movement of someone that might have been hiding up her waiting. When he was certain no one was up there he slowly began to make his way towards the stairs that lead down into the dam control room. As he moved he made sure to check his back as to not let anyone sneak up on him if they were there.

When he reached the stairs he leaned down into a crouch as he stared down the stairs as they lead to a short hall with ended with a door on the left side leading into the control room. He could see the lights of the room shining through the window in the door but he also saw that there was a discoloration to the light as it got darker at the bottom of the small window. That gave him cause for his caution as he focused his mana to his right and summoned his sword. His sword formed in his hand concealed by the "invisible air" letting him keep the weapon hidden in this low light environment.

No one would notice the shift in the air around his hand in the dark so no one would be able to tale he was armed. Yes an underhanded move for a knight to take to hide their weapon but Arthur had cause for his caution so he felt it was the best course of action. He then slowly made his way down the stairs into the inner working of the wall and dam. As he made his way done the stairs slowly the closer he got to the bottom the more a stench filled the air.

It was a bitter stench leaving a sweet taste to the air. He knew that it was the smell of blood and corpses right away having come familiar with the smell back during his time at war. As he reached the bottom the stench had become so great he had almost thought he was back on the battle fields of old. He slowly made his way to the door and prepared to open it. He cautiously reached out gripping the handle of the door and turned the handle slowly. The moment her felt it give and he could push the door open he gave one strong push causing the door to swing open at lighting speeds crashing into the wall.

He paused just out of the frame of the door sword ready in case there was someone or something inside. He waited for several minutes before finally looking in. what he saw inside was just what he had expected. Corpses of at least ten different men all of which were severely decayed. Blood that had been splatted on the walls had long since dried a dark coppery red. The corpses all looked like they had been sitting in the room for months. Dark colorless skin, eyes sunken and bones exposed from wounds that had killed the men.

Arthur dispelled his sword and moved into the room to examine the corpses. He moved to the closest one to him which was that of a man in a chair who had a gun resting on the ground next to him with his severed hand still holding it. Arthur knelt down to look at the appendage to see how it had been removed. He lifted the hand shifting it in his own looking at the wrist where it had been severed at to see it was that of a clean cut that had removed the man's hand.

Arthur set the hand back on the ground and then looked up to the corpse in the chair before him. The corpse looked like it had had its chest ripped open. Arthur was intrigued with this seeing as the man's hand was removed by a blade of some sort. He reached up putting his hand into the chest where a fist size hole was, to feel around to see what he could find inside only to find nothing. He removed his hand from the corpse's chest flicking away the remnants of blood that covered it as he then began examining the ribs.

He could see that the ribs had been ripped out and broken but what surprised him was the fact that the ribs looked to have been broken from the inside. He then looked up at the man's neck he could see that the man had had his throat slit from ear to ear. A deep cut clean and well placed. This unsettled him. He looked over the corpse again looking for any more details he may have missed when he noticed something odd along the ribs that had fallen to the floor.

Arthur reached down and picked up the pieces of ribs to find something that made his stomach flip. There where bite marks along the pieces of ribs that he was holding and they weren't bite marks from an animal. They were human bight marks. He dropped the pieces of ribs and quickly began to examine the other corpses in the room. He found the same marks on all the corpses. Indentations of teeth covered the corpses meaning that someone had come in to this room and killed all these men and then ate their innards. The mere thought of such a think sickened Arthur to no end as he looked over the corpses again.

'What is happening to this world?' He thought as he turned and left the room quickly. As he made his way up the stairs back to the top of the dam, he walked to the edge of the wall and looked out over the landscape that the wall protected Eden from. He panned his gaze over the horizon searching for anything as he tried to understand what was going on. With one final look he grit his teeth and balled his hands into fists as he stared out over the land.

'I will find my answers and kill whoever did this!' he thought darkly as he turned away and jumped back off the dam and began to make his way back to the Arc household. As he disappeared into the woods a shadow began to take form on the top of the dam. A white skull mask formed in the center of the shadow as its figure took form and stared at Arthur as he left.

A sick chuckle rang out like the sound of bones rattling from the figure as it leaned over the wall and looked watched Arthur leave.

"I found one." The figures sickly voice came as it shook in its place lifting a decrepit thin arm out from the shadow and held the bone mask in its hand as it laughed.

"I look forward to having your heart." The figure spoke again as it than faded into shadows without a trace.

End.

 **AN/ Yeah new chapter done. Please leave a review. Fav and follow if you wish too.**


	3. Chapter 3

A king's return

Chapter 3 plans for the future.

Arthur sat on the roof of his house watching as the girls set up tables and chairs in the backyard for a party while their father was out buying groceries. It seems it was Jaune's birthday today and he was turning seventeen and his sisters wanted to throw a huge party for him saying they were going to bake him a giant cake as well as give in presents all day. Arthur did his best to seem happy about the party but he couldn't help but feel like a thief steeling away such a sweet moment from the real Jaune.

As he sat on the roof watching them set up he thought about the time he has spent here. He has been Jaune Arc for little over half a year now and he has begun to really enjoy his time here with the Arc family. Even with his investigation into what had brought him to this world and why he was merged with Jaune.

On that note he began to think about what his next move should be. He had followed the river past the dam to search for the source of the shadow beast as well as the culprit that had killed the towns watch men. In his search he found nothing as the river ended at ocean about a half a day's walk from the dam. He had hoped of finding a lake that might have been used to create the shadow beast by infusing it with mana and dark magic to birth them but instead he found the ocean reaching out far and wide.

He had truly hoped he would find something to help him in figuring out what was happening. It has been about a month and a half since he first found the dam and he was only one step in the right direction and ten steps behind whoever was pulling the strings. The thought of that made him angry seeing as he had hoped to at least be farther into his investigation of matter.

He just let out a tired sigh as laid back against the roof and looked up at the sky watching as the clouds moved over head. It was the beginning of a new year and spring was just another two months off and the weather would start to warm up. Arthur has spent the last month and a half searching all over the village and surrounding woods of Eden for anything that might help him with his investigation only to come up with dead ends and more questions.

In this past half month he has run into twelve of those shadow beast while he was searching for clues. Each time the beast had been stalking someone who traveled off the beaten path and into the woods to hunt or some lone traveler. Each time he had been forced to kill the east before it could kill anyone. He had hoped he would be able to find one that was alone and he could follow it back to where ever it came from only to always be forced to dispose of the beasts.

With that thought he let out another tired sigh and lifted his arms over his head and stretched them. He then folded them behind his head and rested on them as he stared up at the sky. He was in a bit of a bind with things as they were. He needed more information and clues as to what was happening but that wasn't all he also needed to stay focused with his reason for staying with the Arc family. It wasn't to take Jaune Arcs place it was to bring him back, and he can't really do that when he is busy pretending to be Jaune.

Arthur let his thoughts wonder as he thought about his plans and what he had to do. He was then pulled from his thoughts at the sound of the ladder shaking. He turned to his right to see Lily lifting herself up the last bit of the ladder and onto the roof. She smiled at him as she moved over and took a seat next to him. He didn't mind the action as he just smiled and gave a nod to the young girl. She leaned back looking up at the sky with him watching as the clouds flew overhead in a content silence.

The two sat for a good half an hour in silence not wanting to break the peaceful air that passed over them as they watched the clouds. The two were more than happy to continue on in silence but Arthur had figured it would be better to talk with Lily. She was the closet of the seven of Jaune's sisters and the one that spent most of her time with him so Arthur figured if he planned on bringing Jaune back he would have to at least let her know that someday he would change. He lifted himself up to speak only to stop when Lilly spoke first.

"So are you still planning on heading to Beacon to become and Huntsman?"

The question had caught Arthur off guard before he looked into Jaune's memories to find what Lily was referring to. After a second he found what he was looking for and indeed Jaune had been planning on going to an academy called Beacon to train to become a Huntsman like his father. Jaune had planned on becoming a Huntsman to honor his family an admirable desire, but Arthur wondered if he should follow through with that desire.

He took a second to reply as he thought about what to say carefully. "I don't know, I would like to but after everything that has happened I feel it would be wrong to just up and abandon you all like that."

As he spoke he was surprised to see Lily's shoulders sag slightly at his reply as she than turned back to look at him with sad eyes. The action had caught him off guard and he had no idea what to do or say as he tried to figure out what he sad to make her so sad. 'What did I do?' He thought as he looked into Lily's sad eyes.

After a second of silence she finally spoke again. "Are you really going to give on your dream than?"

The question had come as a shock to Arthur. He had expected something else to be asked but instead Lily was here worrying about his dreams for him. While Arthur didn't have the same desires as Jaune he still felt sad at refusing Jaune the chase to fulfil his dreams seeing as he had taken his life from him. Here Arthur was playing himself off to be someone he's not and now he was taking away that persons dreams throwing them to the side like they were nothing.

Such a cruel act should be punished but he didn't know what to do. He wanted to bring Jaune back to return the life he had taken but now he was destroying that life's purpose by discarding his dreams. He lowered his head guiltily as he thought of what he should say to Lily. He wanted to tell her he was staying so he could protect her and the others. A he looked into Jaune's memories he could tell that Jaune had wanted nothing more than to be a Huntsman so he could protect them and had said so more than once to them all.

So if he was to say he was staying to protect them he would be discarding Jaune's dream even more. He just lowered his head more as he tried to think of what to say next. As he continued to try and think of an answer he was pulled from his thoughts when Lily wrapped her arms around his head pulling him into a hug.

"It's ok Jaune, you don't have to give up on your dream for us. I and the others know how much it means to you to become a Huntsman so we don't want to ever take that opportunity away from you."

She just patted the back of his head as she hugged him as she did her best to cheer him up. Arthur let he do so as he thought of what to say. He took a deep breath and reached up pulling Lily's arms away from his head breaking the embrace and looked into her eyes.

"I won't I will become a Huntsman."

As he said this he could see a smile forming on Lily's lips as she than hugged him and buried her face in his chest as she did so. She was happy but sad as well seeing as she had just convinced Jaune to leave but she never wanted to take anything from her brother so if she could help him fulfill his dreams she would do so. Even if it meant he would leave her and go somewhere far away.

Arthur could only think about what he was going to do now. Over the past few months he found himself becoming more and more attached to the Arc family as he started to believe he could have a place here with them. Still though no matter how much he was enjoying his stay with them he couldn't bring himself to truly feel like one of them as he always felt like he could never match Jaune.

From all of the memories he had it seemed Jaune was the person in the family holding them all together. In all the memories Jaune was the one who would act first to take care of his sisters and would never let them cry. It was nice to think someone as childish and naive as Jaune existed, but Arthur knew he could never be Jaune so he would do everything in his power to bring him back for Lily and the others.

The two just sat for a minute holding onto one another not wanting to break the embrace only for a scream to pull them from their moment. Arthur shot into a crouched position looking down to see Clarisse and the others backing away into the house at the sight of several shadow beast coming out from the tree line behind the house. He turned to look at Lily who was now cowering behind him shacking in fear at the sight of the beasts that had once tried to kill her.

He cursed himself for letting his guard down and went to move only to stop when he thought about what he was going to do. He couldn't just jump down there calling out his armor for them all to see. They would end up asking questions he knew he couldn't answer without revealing the truth. So instead he decided he would just use the "invisible air" and his sword. If he kept the sword hidden with the "invisible air" he would be able to play it off as a new way he had learned to control his semblance.

With that thought he turned around wrapped one of his arms around Lily's waist and then lifted her.

"Hold on." He told her as she then wrapped her arms around his neck and he jumped from the roof down to the others. He softened the landing with the "invisible air so not to hurt Lily and gave her off to her mother and turned back to the shadow beasts putting himself between them and the Arc family.

"Get inside now!" He ordered to which they complied all though Lily protested her older sisters pulled her inside the house and ran down towards their basement leaving the beasts with their brother. Arthur summoned up his sword and took his stance as he eyed the beasts that had decided to throw their lives away. There were four of them all ready to charge growling in hatred towards the former king ready to kill.

There was a silence in the air for a second before everything fell and Arthur and the beasts charged one another. The former king easily dispatched the first two beast with one clean strike splitting them in two. He then dodge a lunge from the third while he also blocked a swipe from the forth as he spun on his heels to throw the beast back as he then turned and cut down the third beast. He turned to kill the last beast only for his senses to warn him of an attack from behind forcing him to dive to the side as he dodged the attack.

What he saw surprised him as he saw a black knife fly past where he used to be piercing into the shadow beast he had planned on killing. The blade had pierced the beast clean between the eyes killing it for him. Arthur turned to in the direction the knife had come from letting his eyes sweep over the tree line to find his new attacker. As his eyes scanned the tree line his senses flared again as he dived away from another attack.

He dodged three more daggers that came flying at him from the side lodging themselves into the ground where he had been crouched. He turned his gaze over the trees again trying to find his attacker only to see nothing but shadows and forest. 'Damn it who is attacking!?' He thought angrily as he continued to scan the tree line.

As he scanned the trees a voice rang out. "Well, you are quite the special one aren't to?"

The voice was sickening like that of a dying old man splitting the silence like the sound of dying animals. Arthur looked around to find the source of the voice hopping if they kept talking he would be able to find them.

"I would never say I am special, just well trained." He said hopping he could get a response.

He waited a second before a sick laughter began to fill the air. It was like the sound of rattling bones.

"Hahaha, don't think you can fool me, I know what you are." The voice came again shocking Arthur as he looked around still trying to pinpoint the source. He cursed when he found nothing as he then lifted his sword to keep his guard up as he responded to the attackers claims.

"Oh and what am I than!?"

He waited expecting to be met with more daggers only to instead watch as shadows took form before him seven yards ahead in the tree line. As the shadows formed he came to the sight of a cloaked figure wearing half of a bone mask being the only identification of his attackers face. The figure was hunched with a long tattered black cloak hiding his body. More than likely hiding how many knives he had left.

"You are a false existence someone who shouldn't have been summoned."

The figure spoke catching Arthur off guard at its words. 'It knows I was summoned.' He thought as he tightened his grip on his sword as he watched the figure warily.

"So if you know I was summoned that must mean you are the one who is controlling those shadow beast?"

He questioned hopping to finally find some answers from this strange figure before him. Instead his remark was met with that same bone clattering laughter.

"Oh, no I am not the one who controls the hounds I am but a servant to their master."

At this Arthur grit his teeth as he thought over the man's words. 'If what he says is true than that means someone else is pulling the strings and he is but a puppet in this play.' With that thought he also just learned he wasn't supposed to be summoned meaning his presence here, his merging with Jaune hadn't been planned. It so than that meant he could return this body back to Jaune. He had to continue speaking with this man for more answers.

"So than your master has sent you to kill me than?"

He questioned as he watched for any movements from the assassin. His question got another set of laughter again as the assassin lifted its left hand up and held its face its arm was silky thin with pitch black skin. When the laughter finally died the assassin spoke.

"No I was sent to watch and test you as well as inform you of a request my master would like to make to you."

That didn't sit right with Arthur but he had to keep this talk going to find his answers.

"And what is this request?"

He asked preparing himself for whatever might happen. The assassin seemed to smile behind his mask from the way it tilted its head before it spoke again.

"My master would like for you to join us."

That was not what Arthur had expected. He had thought this assassins master would request his removal from their play not a seat in it. But the assassin wasn't finished as he began to speak again.

"You see, my master finds your existence a problem a variable my master can't predict so I was given three options. One I kill you and remove that unpredictable variable from play. Two I keep watch on you to prevent you from getting in the way of my masters plans. Finally for the third option my master had asked me to make a request to you to join us."

Arthur thought about this as he watched the assassin carefully. 'This man's master is quite careful if only one unpredictable variable is something he would go so far to remove.' The former king thought on the options trying to find reason behind them. The first was a simple not wanting any problems option taking out any threat he could find as quickly as possible. The second was a bit of a stretch but still a feasible plan if he wanted to keep Arthur around in case he became of use.

While the third option as an even better plan by taking that unpredictable variable out of play by making it one of his pawns to use when the time was right. Whoever was pulling the strings was quite a careful one if this is how they were playing it.

"So what if I refuse and killed you?"

Arthur asked as he readied himself for a fight only to be met with laughter from the assassin.

"Hahahaha, you don't seem to understand the situation you are in." The assassin spoke cryptically as he then began to move along the tree line. As the assassin moved Arthur followed not wanting him to break his line of sight. As they moved the assassin spoke again.

"You see I have been watching you since your visit to the dam."

As soon as Arthur heard this he paused in surprise before quickly pushing it aside. 'So he is the one who killed the watchmen.' He thought as he felt his anger building. When the assassin finally stopped it spoke again.

"You see I originally was going to kill you but my master had other plans so he asked me to watch you to see what it is you do and why you are here, but from what I have seen you don't even know why you are here yourself."

The assassin said amused by the prospect as he laughed at Arthur some before continued on talking.

"You are lost unsure of why you were brought back. My master would like to give you a reason for being brought back. My master believes you may be of use to him. So when I was sent to make this request to you I was told to tell you this. Refusal is a fine option we will just watch you to keep you from impeding our plans but if you decide to make us your enemy we will not just kill you but we will kill that family you are trying to protect."

As soon as the assassin said this Arthur charged forward slashing out to split the man in two only for his blade to strike nothing at the assassin faded into a shadow. Arthur started to dart his head around looking for the assassin. As he did he was met with laughter again as the assassin spoke.

"Hahaha, no need to be so hasty you don't have to decide now, you will have a month before I return. Make your decision carefully you wouldn't want those sweet girls to become my next meal."

With that the assassin faded completely. Arthur balled his hands into fists as he dispersed his sword. "Damn it!"

He cursed himself for being so foolish he had let his guard down and been followed watch for over a month now and he had not once noticed. Such a blunder was disgraceful, but what was worse was the fact now that he put Lily and the other all in danger. 'Damn it how could I let this happen?' He thought bitterly as he turned to look at the house.

Inside Lily and her sisters where sitting in the basement hiding from the shadow beast that threatened them, but now they had an even worse threat looming over head. He cursed himself again before he went inside to tell them it was safe to come out. As he made his way to the basement door he couldn't help but berate himself for letting this happen. As he walked to the door all he could do was mentally beat himself up for being so foolish for not even trying to check if he was being followed.

When he reached the door to the basement he knocked several times before calling down to let them know it was safe to come out. As soon as he did he was met by Isabel opening to door looking out worriedly as she checked over Arthur to make sure he was ok. When she finished that she pulled him into a tight embrace. Any other time he would have been more than fine to let the embrace last, but now all he felt was the need to break free of her hold and run.

He let the embrace continue till she broke it and the other seven girls replaced her and all hugged him saying how glad they were to see him ok and how lucky they were he was there, but as they said this he felt nothing but guilt at the fact that he was the one that brought the beasts to them. He simply let the embraces continue till the girls finally let go and gave the girls a small smile that he hoped hid his guilt and concerns.

As he did he was met with a varying set of responses some of the girls simply gave a concerned look while others looked ready to question him but before they could he spoke up.

"Why don't we continue setting up? You all went through so much trouble to try and prepare this party for me so it would be wrong to put all that hard work to waste and stop now."

As he said this he turned ready to head out hoping they would not question him. As he moved he felt Lily grab onto his arm and move with him before she spoke herself.

"He's right lets through a party for our hero."

She cheered making all the other girls smile as they began to move and finish up setting up for the party. Arthur moved off with Lily heading into the kitchen to help Isabel and her. As he did Lily watched him closely. She knew something was wrong they all did but she knew if she tried and ask about it he would dodge the questions. It hurt to think he was hiding something but Lily just let it be.

Arthur moved over to the counter and began collecting plates and forks to take outside. As he did he thought about his next move. He was at a disadvantage with almost no options to choice from. He could either join the Assassin and serve his master or refuse and risk the chance that the assassin will go after Lily and the others. Even if he didn't make them his enemy if he refused he had no guaranty that Lily and the others would be safe.

He was stuck between a rock and a hard place with no plan of attack. 'Damn it what have I done?' he thought bitterly as he passed a glance out over the girls as they all cleaned up the yard and finished setting up for the party. He had to choice carefully or he was going to get them killed. 'I will protect them I have to.' He thought as he began to plan what to do next.

End.

 **AN/ Yea new chapter. Please leave a review really leave one. Also follow and fav if you wish.**


	4. Chapter 4

A king's return

Chapter 4 in search of the truth.

Arthur stood in his backyard practicing his swords play. He swung his sword as fighting off imaginary enemies as he practiced. He swung with clean and precise strikes all of which he imagined cutting down that skull faced assassin. With one finale swing he sent out a slash with the "invisible air" taking down a line of tress before him. He panted as sweat dripped down his face as he lifted his head back and looked up into the sky.

It has been about half a month sense the assassin showed. In the past half month all Arthur could do was think of his plan of attack if he would attack. All he could do was try and plan for what he will do when the assassin returned. He knew he couldn't agree to join him but he knew if he refused he would be putting Lily and the others all in danger.

He had no idea what to do and all he was left with was one bad decision after the next. 'Damn it why must I always be forced into these type of situations.' He thought sadly as he thought back to past decisions he made when he was king. He had been forced to sacrifice villages to save his kingdom even sacrifice his most trusted knights to win battles and what did that get him it was only forcing him to be less and less human as he went on as king.

Now he was being forced to make a decision of sacrifice again. Either he forgoes his own free will and join the assassin or he was to sacrifices Lily and her entire family just to stop this monster from accomplishing its goal. Neither choice where appealing to him. Yes he still had the third option of just turning a blind eye but he knew he couldn't trust the assassin's words. The assassin could just as easily lie to him and stab him in the back as well as kill Lily just for not joining them. He didn't know what to do.

With a sigh he turned to see Lily sitting on a tree stump that he had cut down several days ago while in his mad stupor of training. She gave him a wary smile as she stood and walked over with a towel and bottle. He was glade she didn't question him but he knew that it wouldn't last and in time she would stop being patient and ask what was wrong and when that day came he would be forced to tell her the truth.

As she handed him the towel and bottle she just gave him a small smile. He felt a sting of pain shoot through his chest as he saw her smile. He took them gladly as he downed the water in the bottle. As he did he spared Lily a sideward glance as he thought about what he was going to do. He knew his current straight wasn't normal for him. He used to be more level headed when he was king. He would never second guess himself.

He was able to make quick on the spot decisions for the wellbeing of the kingdom and its people whether they had good or bad results he would always act for the wellbeing of the whole of his kingdom over forsake it for the few, but now here he was second guessing himself on what he should do with this assassin situation.

He has been thinking of only protecting Lily and the others over what would happen if he didn't stop the assassin's master. This wasn't him thinking straight he knew this but he didn't want to think straight if it meant letting her and her family die. The only reason for such thought he had to guess was Jaune's memories. It seemed the memories didn't just give him insight into Jaune's past but also affected his own way of thinking thanks to the emotions that came with the memories.

The memories where clouding his own judgements making him look at the little picture not the big picture, but could he really say that was the only reason. He knew that over the past 7 months he has become attached to the arc family so could he really blame his lack of broader view was just because of Jaune's memories. All he was doing blaming someone who no longer can take the blame but he knew that Jaune's memories and emotions carried some control over his actions to a degree not a large degree but still some degree.

With that he had to try and figure out a way to solve the problem with the assassin. He tossed the water bottle back to Lily who caught it and went back to her stump and sat. He took a deep breath and began to plan for what to do. He has been trying so hard to get what he wanted while still saying he was going to save someone. A foolish thing to say seeing as no matter what if he wanted to stop the one pulling the strings he would have to forgo any desire to save himself or those he cared for.

He knew this and still he was desperately trying to do the impossible. He needed a plan but he wasn't going to lose his desires or loved ones to win. He was going to save everyone but himself this time. All he had to do was prepare.

Beacon academy headmasters office half a month later.

Ozpin sat at his desk reading over a stack of paper work and reports he has been looking into for the past 7 and a half months. The files were on strange sightings of some new type of creature that has been causing trouble throughout Vale as well as murders that have been coming through. With the reports of the new type of beasts seemed almost farfetched but the headmaster was never one to let rumor sway his judgement.

From what he has read in the reports it seems that what he could only assume was a new type of Grimm was lurking the lands. In all the reports the creature is described to look like a Beowulf but made of shadows. While in the beginning Ozpin assumed that the reports were in accurate and all that was happening was some lone Beowulf's had started to cause some trouble, but after more and more reports came in on these Shadow Beowulf's Ozpin began to investigate.

As Ozpin went more and more into the investigation he came upon reports of murders taking place throughout the kingdom as well as neighboring villages. The headmaster had taken interest in these reports as well as he started to look into the murders believing they may have a connection to the sighting of these beasts. At first it was a stretch and he was just hoping he could find something that might validate his thought and in the end he found something unsettling.

While going over the files of the murder cases he found that the murders had all happened in villages that had reported sightings of the shadow beasts. With that Ozpin had asked for the autopsies of the murder victims in hopes of finding what the murders had to do with these beasts. He had thought that the person committing the murders was doing it to spread fear and call Grimm and these new shadow beasts to the villages to wipe them out but instead Ozpin found something more unsettling.

While reading through the Autopsies he found that the victims where having their organs removed. As soon as Ozpin read this he felt his stomach drop at the thought of some deranged psycho steeling people's organs for some unknown and twisted reason. With that knowledge Ozpin had begun to search for even more information on the murderer. So he began to read through more and more autopsies only to find something that made the matter even darker.

While reading each of the files he found a small cluster of reports on some of the victims saying that some of the corpses found had not only had the organs removed but eaten. Now Ozpin had assumed as he read this that the victims were being fed to either the Grimm or these shadow beasts, but to his dismay it was far worse. The victims that were being eaten where not being fed to the Grimm or shadow beasts, but to a human being.

The headmaster had hoped that the reports were wrong that they just made a mistake, but sadly the reports had been gone over multiple times to be sure and indeed some of the victims were being eaten by someone. With that Ozpin had called upon Qrow in hopes of helping him find the culprit. Although Qrow had refused at first seeing as he was busy searching for the people who had attacked Amber a few months after all these strange reports started to come in.

Ozpin had originally thought that he should leave Qrow be and let him find the people responsible for what's happen to Amber but with the reports on these murders and the strange shadow beasts starting to become more frequent he need to find answers right away. So he convinced Qrow into searching for the murderer as well as the source of these new shadow beasts. So with that final thought Ozpin called Qrow to see how the search was going.

As the headmaster dialed Qrow's number he sat waiting as the call started to connect. It didn't take too long before the headmaster's old friend picked up.

"What do you need Ozpin?"

Qrows voice came through the line with a slightly annoyed tone. The headmaster just ignored the tone and spoke up.

"I would like to know how your search is coming."

Ozpin waited as he heard a deep sigh come from the other line before Qrow replied.

"Look Oz, I am doing my best to find answers for what's going on but with you making me search for some murderer over the people who attacked Amber you have split with my priorities."

The old crone answered back tiredly as Ozpin could hear the man take a swig from his flask. That was a habit Ozpin hoped Qrow would get over some day. As he heard the flask fall Qrow began again.

"Look I know that this murder thing is bad but why couldn't you have asked someone else who wasn't already on mission to take this job?"

Ozpin was the one to sigh this time as he leaned back in his chair before answering.

"I decided to choice you because I trust you to solve this mater quietly. If you really feel like stopping the search that is fine I will ask someone else to do it. I want to find the people who attacked amber just as much as you do but I can't just leave this case alone."

As soon as Ozpin finished he heard a defeated sigh come from the other line as Qrow seemed to think on his next response.

"Don't worry Oz, I will keep searching." Qrow paused before continuing. "Look Oz I think I might have found something out in the village Eden. I have an old friend there who told me that his son and family had been attacked by these strange shadow beasts."

As Qrow spoke Ozpin found himself more interested in the matter

"Who would this old friend be?"

The headmaster asked as he sat forward in his seat.

"His names Jeremiah Arc."

"Arc now that is a name I haven't heard in a long time. What has he told you so far?"

Ozpin asked as he waited for Qrow to continue.

"From what Jeremiah has told me it seems his son Jaune was the first person to be attacked while now the strange shadow beasts are starting to make themselves more known over the past few months."

As Ozpin listened to this he wondered what this all meant as he began to try and piece together the puzzle.

"Than does that mean you are heading to meet with Jeremiah now?"

"Yeah I just arrived in the village I was thinking of doing some investigating first before going to meet with him so when I am done I will get back to you."

Ozpin wished Qrow some luck and hung up the call. As Ozpin leaned back in his seat he passed a glance out of the window of his office as he thought about what to do next. He still had paper work for the upcoming school year to finish along with preparing for the Vytal festival as well. With everything that is happening he could only wonder what the future held.

Qrow Eden village.

The old crone walked down the stone path leading to the center of the village looking for the town tavern where he set his meeting with Jeremiah. It has been some time sense the old crone spoke with his old friend and he was looking forward to catching up. It was late afternoon and the sun was just sitting behind the mountains in the distance.

The old crone let out a tired sigh as he stretched his arms over his head and looked around. He had just spent the better part of his day on the most uncomfortable carriage ride he has ever been on. The reason for this was that the closes air ship landing pad was two towns away from Eden. So to say he was sore would be an understatement.

With that thought Qrow was more than happy he was heading to the tavern seeing as his flask was empty and wanted to sleep in a nice warm bed. So as the old crone made his way down the stone paths that lined Eden he found himself watching every little thing around him. The people seemed cheerful all though the old crone could see that the people were slightly on edge. He already had an idea as to what worried them.

'Well at least I know I'm in the right place.' The old crone thought as he continued on down to the tavern. He walked for a good 15 minutes before he found it resting just off to the left in between some of the other buildings. When he entered he was greeted with the pleasant stench of alcohol and the sweet aroma of food. He smiled at that as he moved his way towards the bar. He passed by some men playing poker all laughing as they took drinks from their mugs gleefully.

As he made his way to the bar he was met by a lovely brunette server. The women was dressed in a green and white dress with a small mini skirt and white apron over top. It was very alluring and Qrow did his best not to stare at her legs.

"What can I get you?"

The woman asked cheerfully as she pulled out a note pad and pen from one of the pockets in her apron.

"I would like to book a room for the night and to get my flask here filled if you would be so kind."

The old crone said as he handed his flask over to the woman with some lien. She nodded and went to work filling the flask before she went down the bar to collect a key to one of the rooms. When she returned she gave him the room key and number along with his flask and asked if he would like to have a meal. The old crone politely refused and made his way up to the room.

As he left the bar though he passed another glance at the woman's tiny skirt. 'I see why this place gets so much business now.' He thought as a small smile spread across his lips when he saw the woman make a small twirl to turn around and reach up to the top shelf behind the bar. He then quickly shook his head as he pushed his lewd thoughts aside and made his way to his room.

As he made his way into his room he through his gear on the bed before moving to the shower to get cleaned up. After he finished showering he went over and laid himself on the bed ready to pass out. He figure he didn't have to meet with Jeremiah till tomorrow so he should get some sleep now and then do some investigating later in the night. With that final though he passed out on the bed.

Several hours later.

Qrow woke with a start as he rolled off the edge of his bed and landed on the floor with a loud thump as he felt his room shaking. At first he thought he was having the worst hang over ever again when he realized his room was shaking from the sound of loud music booming from below him. He groaned as he lifted himself off the floor and stood. He did a stretch before picking up his gear and moved to the window. He looked out to see the night life of Eden all but barren save for the people below in the tavern enjoying themselves the streets where almost empty.

The old crone took that as a good thing seeing as he didn't want someone seeing him lurking at night that would make him look bad and he couldn't have that. He did one last stretch before taking a swing from his flask that had been filled earlier and then jumped out of the window. He landed with a soft thump as he looked around the empty streets.

'Good now it's time to start investigating.' He thought with a small smile as he pulled out his scroll to check the time. It was a little after ten in the night so he had a few more hours of darkness to look around. If he was going to be searching for a murderer he best do it when the murderer was most active. So with that he tucked away his scroll and began to investigate if a man with a partial hang over looking sloppily down the streets was considered investigating.

Qrow began to look through out all the alley ways and dark streets in hope of finding anything as he moved throughout the town. He search in old warehouses empty food markets and even the library for anything for about an hour before he decided to search through the woods. As he left the light s of the village behind and interred the darkened woods he began to take a more series posture as he moved farther and farther into the woods in hope of finding anything.

As he moved through the woods quietly he began to wonder if he should just head back into town and wait for the next day to talk with Jeremiah and see what he knows. Just as that thought passed through the old crones mind he saw some movement in the distance. He quickly drew his sword and lowered himself into a crouch as he moved behind a try to hide himself from sight. He moved from tree to tree quietly getting closer and closer to whatever it is he saw.

As he closed the distance the figure he saw took shape and he found himself surprised to see a young blonde boy making his way through the woods. At first Qrow was taken back by the sight of the boy only to push the surprise away as he stood to stop the kid. 'Looks like me search might just be over.' The old crone thought as he prepared to go and question the kid.

Only just as he was about to leave his hiding spot only to freeze up again as he watched as a small flash of light glowed around the boy and then he was covered in knight armor. At the sight the old crones eyes widened as he watched the boy walk forward into a clearing just ahead of him.

Qrow quickly hid himself again as he moved around the tree to keep his eyes on the kid. Now the old crone has seen some pretty crazy things in his life but what the kid just did with the flash and now the armor left him a little speechless. 'How the hell did he do that?' The old crone thought as he prepared to leave his hiding spot only to stop again when he saw something else. 'Oh what now!?' He thought annoyed at not getting to show himself.

What he saw was a shadowy figure make its way out of the tree line coming into sight just a head of the young blonde boy. The figure was hidden under a tattered black cloak that covered the figure. The only thing giving away that the figure had a head was the pure white skull mask that covered the figures face. 'What the hell is going on?'

The old crone thought as he looked between the blonde and masked figure. At first he was hoping that the blonde might be his murderer but now with this weird masked figure. Now he was wondering if there were two suspects or he was just watching something that had nothing to do with his investigation. Although he doubted the last one as he looked over the two suspects.

The blonde didn't seem too happy at the sight of the new figure as Qrow watched the blondes shoulders square up and he clenched his jaw. The old crone could see that there was bad blood between these two as he watched them.

"So have you decided yet?"

A sickening voice rang out as the masked man seemed to tilt his head to the side watching the blonde. The voice made Qrows skin crawl.

"Yes I have made my decision."

"Good, now tell me will you join us?"

The masked man asked as he raised a sickly thin arm with pitch black skin out towards the blonde. Qrow felt sick at the sight of the appendage added in with the voice he could already tell if he was found he was in for some trouble with this thing.

"Before I answer I want you to tell me if I refused would you attack the Arc family?"

The knight spoke with a sharp edge to his voice as he opened and closed his left hand. Qrow had just scrapped his belief of the masked figure and knight working together quickly, at the sight of the knight's reaction. 'Well shit, this might end badly.' The old crone thought as he turned to the masked figure as he let his hand fall on the handle of his weapon.

"So long as you stay out of our way my master has given his word that the family you are watching over will be safe. But we will be watching, so if you try and get in our way we will kill them."

The masked figure spoke as it as it moved along the tree line circling the knight as it spoke.

"Tell me would they be in danger if I left them?"

The knight asked as he followed the masked figure as it moved to its left. The figure seemed to think on the question as moved raising its hand to its face.

"Yes, my master really has no need for the family not now anyways seeing as you are here."

Qrow watched closely as he saw the knight pause before speaking up again.

"So than you have no reason to go after the family other than me being with them?"

"Yes if what you are implying is that you will leave them, than we will not stop you and continue our watch but if what you are saying is you are leaving them to join us, I will be more than happy to show you to my master so…."

As the masked man spoke he was interrupted by the knight charging him with what looked like wind in his hand as he slashed out barely missing the masked figure by and inch as he cut through its cloak.

"Well, I guess this means you will be declining our invitation?"

The masked man asked in a mock joyous tone as it stared down the knight. Qrow tightened the hold on his weapon as he prepared to move and assist the knight. 'This is going to end badly.' The crone thought as he waited for his chance to make a move.

"You do know that you just put that family to death right."

The masked figure laughed in glee only to stop when the knight spoke up interrupting his laughter.

"No, I won't let them die."

As the knight said this the assassin obviously took on a confused look as it tilted its head to the side.

"Oh, you must be quiet the fool is that is what you believe. Who would have thought you would…"

"I am no fool."

The knight interrupted the masked man as he stepped forward towards him as he continued speaking.

"You see you said it the family means nothing to you save for my connection to them, but what good is that connection if I am so willing to cut it. You see I have thrown them away meaning you have no reason to kill them it will do you no good. The only thing killing them would do is give me even more reason to render you and your master to a rotting corpse."

At this the assassin paused as it took in what the knight had just said before taking a step back. Qrow just watched from his spot in confusion at what he was watching.

"I see so we miscalculated. We had truly believed that you might be foolish enough to join us if we held something over your head, but now I see we were wrong."

The assassin slowly began to edge himself to his right as he watched the knight closely. Only to be stop as the knight appeared before him swing out with his sword aiming to split the masked man in two. The masked man ducked under the strike barely dodging it as he then brought up his left with a dagger aiming to pierce the knights throat. Only for the strike to come up short as the knight stopped the strike with his cross guard.

The masked man than kicked out pushing himself away from the knight as he planted its foot into the knight's gut. The masked man rolled back as the knight slashed out with his invisible sword cutting the masked man's arm while removing its cloak. As the cloak fell it revealed the skeletal form of the sickly masked man who rolled away its arm bleeding.

The masked man didn't even seem to notice the wound as he lifted his left arm with a knife ready to fight. Arthur watched in slight interest as he looked over the sickly form of the man. The man was like a burned corps with pitch black skin that wrapped around his bones so tight the knight could see its ribs with each breath. The masked man's right arm was bound in a tightly in a black cloth like bandage rendering the appendage useless.

Qrow watched as his stomach did a flip as he felt the need to vomit at the sight of the masked man. He then turned to look at the knight as he rotated the invisible sword in his hand as he prepared to charge the masked man again. The old crone could on stare in shock at what he had just seen. It had all happened in a flash first the knight vanished from view than reappeared before the masked man so quick that it looked like a blur.

Qrow had thought he could step in and fight himself but now after the display he just saw or barely saw he had to rethink his plan of attack. He was pulled from his thoughts though as a blast of air shot through the clearing into the trees drawing his attention back to the fight. The knight stood at the center of the new found winds sending them out in hug gals that began to topple the trees close to him as he stepped forward ready to kill the masked man.

The masked man himself just stood in the winds without even flinching. The knight had taken noticed and took on a more cautious stance as he watched the masked man carefully as he stopped the winds. The masked man lowered himself as he took the stance of an animal ready to pounce before he vanished. Where he once was several knives came flying out at the speed of a bullet heading towards the knight who just knocked them away as if they were stones thrown by a child.

With a quick turn the knight pivoted on his heels as he dodged a lunge from behind from the masked man who reappeared from the shadows behind him. The knight spun slashing out with his invisible sword aiming to take the assassins head off only to miss as the assassin spun flipping as it aimed a kick for the knights head. The knight just turned his invisible sword using the flat of it to block the strike stopping the assassin spin.

The masked man then used the flat of the blade as a brace as he pushed himself away singing again as he brought his left hand up with a knife in had ready to take out the knights eyes. The knight simply blocked the attack again as he then grabbed hold of the assassins arm and lifted him over head slamming him into the ground. The assassin didn't even let the slightest show of pain as he just shifted with in the knights hold locking its legs around the knights arm and then kicking him in the face to try and break free.

The attack worked causing the knight to stagger back releasing the assassin as he dove away throwing several more knives in an attempt to catch him off guard. The attack had little effect as the knight had righted himself quickly as he knocked the knives into the air to catch them himself and then threw them back at the assassin. The first two missed while the third landed in the assassins left shoulder as he tried dodging.

The assassin seemed to pause as it let out a shaky breath almost like it was afraid as it watched the knight warily. The knight on the other had seemed perfectly fine save for a scuff mark on his left cheek but other than that he was acting like he wasn't even in a fight. Still hidden in the tree line Qrow just stared at the display unable to move as he looked between the two fighters. The old crone had no idea what to make of what he was watching.

In all his years as a Huntsman he has never seen a display like the one that was playing out before him. He has never seen such a display of power or skill before in his entire life. He had only barely kept up with the fight as he tried to piece together everything he saw. First the masked man vanished leaving Qrow to think he ran but when the man appeared behind the knight he found himself stupefied at the speed displayed.

If it had been him who was being attacked he would have lost his head. Everything after that became a blur that he couldn't follow as tried desperately to make something what was happening in the flashes of movement that played out before him. The only thing he could tell was if he ended up fighting either of the two before him he would end up dying. He had no doubt in his mind about that. Maybe he could have handled the masked man but the knight was in a different league.

The old crone was stuck in a shock unable to act like he had planned after seeing the display. 'What the hell how are these two able to fight like that?' he thought in shock as he thought of what to do next. Only he was pulled from his thoughts when the masked man began to laugh.

"Hahaha, I shouldn't be surprised by this outcome, but I must say I thought you would have killed me with the first attack."

The assassin spoke as it reached up removing the knife from its shoulder as if it wasn't even there.

"I am not so foolish as to just attack without testing my opponent first. I needed to see what you could do before taking in action in killing you. I wanted to be sure that you didn't have some way of countering my attacks."

The knight waved off handedly.

"You are quite the cautious one aren't you?"

"Well you know what they say, one can't be too cautious when in a fight."

The knight answered back as he rested his invisible sword on his shoulder.

"Well if that is true than let me give you reason to be cautious."

The assassin spoke as it used its knife to cut the cloth wrapped around its right arm and began to tear it off and throw it to the side. When the cloth flew away Arthur was caught off guard at the sight of the assassins arm. The appendage was elongated making the end of it where he once thought was the assassins hand elbow sat, as he then saw at its shoulder its hand was sawn into its shoulder. The assassin then pulled ripping the sutures in its shoulder removing its hand from its shoulder.

The arm was three times the length of a normal arm as it began to glow a bright red. Arthur didn't like the sight of the appendage as it extended. The knight didn't need to be warned as he shot forward ready to strike down the assassin before it could do whatever it was planning on doing. As the knight charged forward the caught a flash show out from his right as he turned to see what looked like a bolt of lightning flying towards him.

The bolt was too fast for him to dodge or block as it came in. the knight then turned back to see the assassin reaching out to grab what looked like a crystal heart. The bolt crashed into him forcing him to stop his charge as the electricity charged through his body stopping him. He then watched ass the assassin let its hand reach out for the crystal heart.

Qrow watch from the sideline as he saw the knight get blasted from the side stopping his charge. The knight than saw the assassin reaching for some type of crystal that was just in its reach as it tried to grab it. Qrow didn't know what was happening other than the fact that the knight was in danger. So before he knew it he drew his sword shifting it into its gun form and took aim at the elongated red arm of the masked man and fired.

The round flew out crashing into the assassin arm exploding causing the appendage to get torn off from the blast. The assassin let out a shout of shock as he looked at his arm as it flew away before he turned back to look at the knight. He then saw the knight right himself as he continued his charge towards the assassin and split the man in two. Qrow watched in both shock and mild relief as he looked at the sight of the masked man get split into two pieces.

The knight turned from his handy work to look in the direction of the lightning came from then turned in the direction of Qrow locking eyes with him. The old crone froze as he thought the knight was about to charge him only to freeze up when he spoke.

"If you intend to help me then keep up, we need to move now!"

The knight barked out the order as he then sprinted off to the south. Qrow was caught off guard for a second before he then sprinted after the knight to keep up with him. The old crone didn't know what it was but the knights words just struck a chord forcing him to act as he followed after him. He tried the best he could to keep up as he followed after the knight. He tried his best could do was keep the knight in sight so he could follow.

'Damn what am I doing?!' the old crone thought as he followed the knight. He could see that the blast of lighting that hit him did quite a bit of damage leaving him burned quite badly. The old crone had no idea how the knight was able to move after taking such an attack but he could tell that it was slowing him. Even if the knight was faster Qrow could tell he wasn't at full strength after the attack.

The two ran for on a few minutes till they came into a clearing behind a house. The moment Qrow saw it he knew it was the Arc household. He came to a stop behind the knight as he watched the man shoot his gaze around the area looking for something. The old crone didn't know what was going on as he waited for the knight to speak up only to hear the man curse.

"Damn it!"

The knight spun around looking back into the woods trying to see something. Qrow wanted to speak up but when he saw the knight turned back to him aiming his invisible sword at him he froze.

"I know you helped me but do not take that as me believing you to be my ally!"

The knight growled out as he glared down the old crone. This put him off as he tried to think of what to do. 'Well shit.' He thought as tried to think of what to say to the knight.

End

 **An/yea new chapter. Again please leave a review I mean it so please give me your two cents. Or just give me one letter. Oh also follow and fav if you want. But leave a review I need to know what you think to keep me going. Well not going, going but you know writing the story so I know you like it. Yes so please leave a review. It helps me.**


	5. Chapter 5

A king's return

Chapter 5 future plans

Arthur pushed the tip of his sword into the throat of the man before him as he glared him down.

"Who are you!?"

The former king growled out as he looked over the old crone as he looked from the strange weapon the man had on his back to his more than filthy looking clothes. The man was less than impressive with his boozy stench and dirty appearance but Arthur knew never to judge a book by its cover. He was going to have to keep a close eye on this man. Seeing as he had some type of weapon a judging from that bang he heard it must have been a gun but with the sword handle left him wondering.

He looked back up onto the man's eyes after giving him another once over to make sure he didn't have anything else on him he could see.

"Easy now, my name is Qrow Branwen."

The man said as he gave his name as he stepped back from the former king's blade as to relieve the pressure that it had on his throat. Arthur chose not to push again as he thought over what to do with this Qrow fellow.

"Why are you here?"

He asked as he began to plan out what to do if this man was a threat. The old crone took a second before answering as he pointed back into the woods to his left.

"I came to this village looking for the culprit behind a spree of murders as well what might be causing a new breed of Grimm to spread."

The old crone said causing the former king to pause as he lowered his sword as he thought about the man's words. 'Wait so the assassin wasn't just killing people in this village but across several others.' The former king thought as that brought the realization of what was going on. He bit back a curse as he turned to give one last look to the house and throwing his senses out as far as he could to try and find the person who had shot him with lightning.

He turned back to the old crone when he felt nothing to see the old crone was giving him a slightly concerned glance.

"Come with me we need to find the person who shot at me with that lightning."

The former king said as he turned to move back into the woods only to stop when Qrow spoke up.

"I doubt we will be able to find him now."

Arthur turned to regard the old crone as he raised a brow skeptically at the man's words.

"What makes you say that?"

The former king asked as he thought about what the man might be doing. 'Is he in league with the master the assassin had been referring to? If so he is trying to stall to let the attacker retreat.' The former king wondered as he tightened his grip on his sword.

"Look that shot came in fast and seeing as neither of use heard the sound of gun fire or the sounds of a glyph being formed that meant who ever shot at you was a ways off." The old crone paused as he saw the former king's still unimpressed stare. "The man who shot you was most definitely a marksman with that accuracy he showed, and if that means anything it means after he fired the first shot and didn't finish the job he would retreat to a safe place so he didn't have to risk being killed by his target."

That got a reaction out of the former king who took on a thoughtful look as he raised a hand cupping his chin.

"If that is true than we lost him the moment I killed the assassin."

Arthur whispered to himself as he let out a tired sigh as he looked back to Qrow who just gave him a slightly sorry stare that made him slightly annoyed but hid it as he looked back to the house.

"Fine than if the marksman as you call him is no longer here what do we do?"

Arthur was fine going off on his own but this man was probably a good source of information of the world outside of this village seeing as he had already told him there had been more murders outside of the village he hadn't know of. 'I will have to see what this man knows.' The former king thought as he watched the old crone just let out a tired sigh as he reached into his coat and pulled out a flask and took a deep swig from it.

"First we see what we can find on that masked fellow you just killed while I ask you a few questions."

Qrow said causing Arthur to raise a brow at his words.

"Why do you have to question me?"

The former king asked as he tried to understand what the old crone was thinking. 'Is he just trying to probe for information?' the former king wondered as he waved the old crone on to enter the woods while he waited to be questioned. The crone did so as he pocketed his flask and began to make his way back through the woods to where the former king and assassin had fought.

"I am questioning you because you just killed a man, yes a very freaky looking man that tried to kill you but still." The old crone paused as he waited for Arthur to respond when he didn't he continued. "Alright that freaky masked guy who was he and what did he want with you?"

The old crone asked as he figured it would be better to start with a simple question that at least should be easy to have answered. 'From what I heard it sounded like this kid was being recruited but for what the gods only know.' The old crone thought as he walked beside the former king at least hopping he was going to answer.

"I must assume that you had heard some of my conversation with the assassin so you must know that I was being recruited." The former king paused as he gave the old crown a sideward glance. "And no I don't know what he wanted me for, that and as you put it that freaky masked guy as you referred to him was the one who has been murdering people."

As soon as Arthur said this Qrow gave him his full attention.

"So you're telling me you killed my culprit?" the old crone looked at the former king who gave him a small nod as his answer. Qrow just groaned as he reached up and rubbed his temples. 'Well shit that complicates things.' The old crone thought as he pulled out his flask and took a swig of it again.

"Well that means we have a problem."

The old crone said causing Arthur to raise a brow at him questionably as he waved him to continue.

"Listen normally I wouldn't care if some random criminal bights the dust out in some boarder village like this but the man you killed was the culprit of several murders that had brought the attention of both the Vale police force and the man most see as the head of the Huntsman. Which means you interfered with our investigation and that is a crime."

The crone watched as the former king just raised a hand cupping his chin thinking over what the old crone just told him. 'That this things, if what he said is true than that means that thanks to my actions I am considered a criminal.' The former king thought as he began to try and figure out what to do. Back when he was king it wasn't surprising for one of his citizens to kill one another but in those cases it was either a duel or they were defending themselves from an attacker. Yes there had been murders and yes crime was more than prominent it just wasn't the most pressing matter at the time.

Murders where always investigated alongside rapes and other such crime, but if a man killed another in self-defense alongside the fact that the man who they killed was a criminal they wouldn't be seen as criminals themselves, but as heroes. Arthur was pulled from his thoughts when Qrow decided to speak up again.

"Now I am willing to overlook your interference if you are willing to do two things for me."

The old crone said causing the former king to raise a brow at him as he regarded his offer. 'So he's willing to overlook my actions for a price, is he crooked?' The former king thought as he looked back to the old crone who seemed to notice his look of thought.

"Now before you start jumping to any conclusions, know that I am only trying to help you here."

The old crone said making the former king raise a brow at him. Raising a brow has begun to be a common reaction Arthur has been using around this strange man. He was interested in what the man meant in his regard of trying to help.

"What do you mean how do you plan to help me?"

Arthur asked wondering what the man would say.

"Look kid I can see that you are skilled, and skill like that shouldn't go to waste so I am willing to overlook your actions, because you deserve the chance to put those skills to use and seeing as you are pretty young you deserve the chance of making something out of yourself other than being stuck behind bars."

The old crone paused to see if the former king was going to react in anyway before continuing. "Now I don't really care what you are going to do with your future I just don't want to be the one to put a kid in prison so I hope you are willing to hear me out?"

The old crone asked as he looked back to the former king who took a second to think his answer over. 'So he is judging me by my appearance seeing me as a child.' The former king thought before speaking up.

"I will listen but if I find you are trying to trick me know I will not hesitate in ending your life."

He threatened to which the old crone just chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head turning away from him. 'Damn this kid is blunt.' The old crone thought as he let out a tired sigh and looked back at the former king.

"Alright but first I would like to know your name."

The old crone said as he looked ahead of him to see the clearing that the former king had been in earlier before they ran to the arc house.

"It is only right seeing as you have already given me your name." Arthur said only to pause as he thought about what to do now seeing as he wasn't really looking to tell anyone who he really was but he felt he would need to tell the man sooner or later so there was little he could do.

"My name is…" he paused again as he let out a sigh as the old crone stopped walking to watch him. "My name is Arthur Pendragon… but my name is also Jaune Arc."

As soon as the former king said this he got the old crone's attention as he stared at him skeptically lost on what he just said. Arthur took a moment to think over his own words himself. 'I shouldn't have said that.' He thought as he let out a tired sigh. He knew he was going to have to tell someone who he really was sooner or later but he still felt like he was making a mistake in sharing this information with this man. He barely knew him and he had no reason to tell him, he didn't even trust him yet but here he was telling him the truth.

Still he knew sooner or later the man would start to question who he was and he couldn't just hide it seeing as if the man had the resources and information Arthur needed he could lose those resources if he lied to him. Though not the most sound plan but what was he left to do really if he lied and the man saw through the lie he would end up putting him in prison or worse execute him. Although he wasn't sure about the last one he couldn't risk the possibility of being killed before he had the chance to return Jaune back to his body.

His actions he reasoning where for that sole purpose he had to live. He had to return Jaune and if he was killed than he would be doing more than just giving up but he would be taking away Jaune Arcs chance to like again. While he wasn't sure he could even bring back Jaune he wasn't going to let that stop him from trying. He would return Jaune arc back to his family.

He had to even now he was only acting in accord with that thought as he even with his fight against the assassin he was acting in a hopes to make his path in getting Jaune back easier. He knew he wouldn't be able to stay in Eden forever so he was going to have to leave and what better way than to do it while protecting everyone in the Arc family. He had thought about away to leave without the family knowing but then all he thought was that he would only hurt the others.

He had planned for many different out comes but nun seemed to work out in the way he wanted as he always tried to think of some way he could leave without hurting Lily and the others but up until now he didn't have a plan. He now had reason to leave Eden because if he didn't he would end up bringing harm to Lily and the others.

Now all he had to do was tell them he was going to leave. But where he wasn't so sure yet seeing as he would need to figure out. Still he would have to give Lily a reason for his leaving so all he would say is he would be going to that Beacon place. Yes a lie but what else could he say if anything he would have to lie, something he wasn't very fond of doing but with the way things where what choice did he have.

With that thought he turned to look at Qrow who was just staring at him like her was insane. 'Well I can't say I blame him for not believing me. It is pretty hard to understand when I haven't explained myself to him.' Arthur thought as he ran a hand through his hair waiting for the old crone to speak up.

"I-I'm sorry did you just say your name was Jaune Arc and Arthur Pendragon?"

The old crone asked getting a nod from the former king.

"Like Jeremiah Arc?"

As soon as Arthur heard this he took pause as he raised his hand stopping the old crone from speaking as he was about to start.

"Wait you know Jeremiah?"

"Yeah I know Jeremiah, but that's not the point right now. What you just said why did you give yourself two different names?"

Arthur was about to continue his own questioning but stopped himself as he decided it would be better to answer the man's question first.

"Fine I will answer your question than you answer mine. To explain will be difficult but listen to me and keep an open mind." The former king said as he then began to explain in the simplest of terms as he started to tell the old crone of what or at least what he thought he knew of his circumstance. He was not the at explaining things that revolved around the subject of magecraft but in most regards he had at least the right set of knowledge to actually give the smallest amount of explanation he could.

While he went with the best explanation he could of the whole ordeal he could tell that the old crone had difficulty understanding him with what he was saying. 'So he is having trouble with this. Not very surprising.' The former king thought as he rubbed the back of his head hoping the old crone would at least start asking questions so the awkward silence would stop.

"I'm sorry but you sound insane."

The old crone said to which all Arthur could really do was shrug as he tilt his head to the side. 'Well at least I tried.' He thought as he began to think of something else to say only to be pulled from his thoughts when the old crone spoke up again.

"But insane or not, I can't say I don't believe you." Qrow paused as he saw the look of shock on Arthurs face before he spoke up again. "You and I are going to have one hell of a talk before this night is over."

The old crone said as he turned to look into the clearing where the assassin and Arthur had once been fighting. 'I am going to need more alcohol to get through this night.' The old crone thought as he took out his flask and downed the whole of it in one go. 'Yeah definitely going to need more.' He thought as he looked back to Arthur or Jaune or whatever he wanted to go by and let out a heavy sigh.

End

 **An/ yeah not as long as the first chapters but I lost the original after my computer crashed so I had to go back and rewrite this chapter. Sorry for the wait with this one but with the computer crashing I had to take some wore time to get the chapter right or at least better. Please do leave a review I want to know what you guys think. Also fav and follow if you wish.**


	6. Chapter 6

A king's return

Chapter 6 difficult times

Arthur laid back against the roof of the Arc residences as he watched the clouds pass over head while using his senses to keep track of what was happening around the house as well as using the "invisible air" in its proper form as the (Bounded field of the wind king.) he had it spread wide around the house to keep up to warn him if someone or something came through it. While he laid across the roof he focused on his hearing and listened in on the conversation that was happening in the back yard between Jeremiah and Qrow.

He was only able to hear parts of what they were saying as they seemed to be talking about the past. 'Looks like those two are reminiscing. I guess I will head down later.' He thought as he started to think about the events of the night prior. Arthur had gone along with Qrow allowing the man to question him about his circumstance. While the former king only had partial knowledge on his circumstance he still answered all of the Huntsman's questions to the best of his ability.

After the questioning the two had finally decided to stop and collect the corpse of the assassin that Arthur had fought with. While the two still had questions for one another they had decided it would be better to just hold off on the rest of the questions till later. Sadly when they went to collect the remains of the assassin they found that the assassin's corpse was gone. When the two finally interred the clearing where Arthur and the assassin were fighting they were only met with the sight of some toppled trees and a few scattered knives here and there.

There was no split corpse no blood nothing that remained of the assassin. It was like he hadn't even been there to begin with. The two had searched after that for any signs of someone coming and collecting the assassin's body only find nothing but their own tracks alongside the few animals that were around. The two had spent the better part of the night searching only to find nothing of noteworthy value.

After that the two had parted ways and decided it would be best to keep the matter with the assassin Quiet. Thought Arthur still found something odd about the words Qrow had left him with last night. _"I just hope that this matter doesn't involve the maidens, if what you say is true about this magecraft stuff."_ While Qrow had left that vague question in the air Arthur knew that it wasn't for him to answer. At least not yet. It seemed Qrow had hoped he would answer that question but wasn't dead set on getting an answer for it.

'I wonder what these maidens he is referring to are.' The former king thought as he let out a tired sigh as he watched a large cloud pass over head shadowing him from the sun. He really needed to figure things out. While he was being questioned by Qrow he had found that the man had little care for his circumstance and was more intrigued by the prospect of magecraft. Though not surprising but the man had a strange way of asking about it.

The old crone had asked how those who used magecraft were chosen while also asking what was the cycle like for those next to inherit said magecraft. While not surprising questions seeing as back when Arthur had been learning about magecraft himself he had the same questions, but what was odd was that the more Arthur had explained to Qrow the more the man seemed to be lost. It was almost like he had different expectations.

Still though after Qrow had finished with those questions he had questioned Arthur on his identity more. While the former king didn't feel too keen on sharing he had little choose seeing as he needed the man's information as well as position. With everything that Arthur had learned from the old crone he had come to find the man was holding back information as well. While Arthur had only given small answers that at least helped explain his on standing in the development of this strange predicament he found himself in.

Qrow had seemed to act like when Arthur questioned him on his standing and position in the world the old crone had seemed too reserved. It was like the vague answer he had given him when he asked his reasoning for hunting the assassin and the "shadow Beowulf's" as the old crone put it. Qrow had said. _"While I am a Huntsman, I am more like a guardian who stand as a wall to protect the people from both the Grimm and criminals. I may only be but a small part of it though."_

Now the way the old crone said that left Arthur wondering what type of Guardian he truly was. While Arthur was no stranger to the regards of a guardian he could tell that this Qrow was no such thing. Qrow fit more of a role that a spy or assassin would fill while also having a face for the public to hide his true intentions. That left the former king with questions as to the man's true intent but he could do little but guess, seeing as he didn't have all the pieces to put that puzzle together.

With a tired sigh Arthur figured it would be best to just leave that train of thought for later as he went to sit up only to hear the sound of the latter shaking as he turned to see the latter getting set up against the house. He tilted his head slightly as he waited a few seconds before seeing Lily lifting herself up onto the roof. She smiled and waved at him as she slowly made her way over to him and sat down next to him.

"So what brings you here?"

She asked with a smile as she tilted her head sideways as she looked over Arthur. The former king let out a small chuckle as he reached out and patted her on the head.

"Now are you by any chance flirting with me?"

The former knight asked jokingly as he watched the young girls face flush at his teasing as she then began to pout as she folded her arms across her chest and glared at him adorably.

"Hey don't tease me."

The former king just laughed as he patted her head again while she just wacked it away as she smacked him in the shoulder. She huffed as she turned from him.

"You are so weird."

She said as a small smile formed on her lips as she turned back to look at him.

"Hey that guy down with dad seemed to be talking about some strange stuff. You wouldn't happen to know what they are talking about would you?"

She asked as he childish curiosity was piqued by Qrows appearance. Now Arthur didn't know whether to answer that or not seeing as he did know what Qrow was here for. 'Maybe I should just make something up.' The former king thought as he ran a hand through his hair.

"From what I have seen and heard it seems that the Qrow fellow with dad is an old friend of his." Arthur paused as he watching Lily tilt her head to the side even more now giving him a slightly bored look at his answer. "If what I have heard is true they are going to be working on something."

With that answer the former king saw how Lily lit up at the prospect of seeing her father work with a Hunter. While Arthur just felt a little at odds with the prospect seeing as he had hoped to find the time to speak with the Huntsman alone.

"For now though it seems the two might end up sharing more than just one drink together before the day is over."

The former king said as he watched the happy look on Lily's face fade as she began to pout. She began to say things like how she wanted to watch her father go out and be like the heroes of fairy tales or try and be like the king of knight's. while the last remark had caused Arthur to freeze up in slight worry as he seemed to get drawn in by his former title as he remembered the bloody scenes he had witness back when he was king.

Sadly for the former king his freeze hadn't gone unnoticed by Lily. The moment he froze tensing up like lost in a dream Lily stopped her banter as she reached out to the frozen blonde with a worried stare as she placed her hand on his shoulder bringing him back. He flinched slightly under her touch as he then turned back to her his Green eyes almost dole as if faded. It took him a second to return to the moment as he took in her worried stare.

He shook his head dispelling the thoughts as he let out a deep breath before turning back to Lily with a small smile.

"Sorry about that I don't know what came over me."

He lied as he felt a knot form in his stomach as he did so. 'Why must I lie to her?' He thought bitterly as he felt the wait of his words. For him lying was going against his morals. It was like betraying his own being. He was a knight he shouldn't lie he had a code of honor that he had to follow and lying went against that code.

"You know you shouldn't lie." Lily began as she watched Arthur flinch. "If you don't want to tell me just say so, you know I won't question you if you didn't want me to."

She said as Arthurs shoulders slumped slightly as he turned from her with a guilty look. He just let out defeated sigh as he reached up and wiped a hand down over his face. 'To think she could see through me so easily.' The former king thought as he gave the young girl a sideward glance. It was weird, whenever he was around Lily it was like she could see clean through him.

He has found that she was the only one he really couldn't lie to. She would see through it the moment he spoke. It was funny how quick she was to point out his lies. Maybe he should just stop completely. It's not like he could keep it up every time he lied he seemed to always cause more problems. He let out a deep sigh as he turned back to look Lily over.

"Hey can you tell me what it is that gives me away when I lie to you."

The former king asked as he looked up at the sky with a far off distant stare.

"It's because you are just like Jaune, you see every time he lied his eyes always became dull like they lost color, yours do the same." Lily said as she rested her hand on his shoulder. "It's ok to tell me the truth Arthur."

As she said his real name he could only feel pain at the fact that she knew the truth. He was such a fool for ever believing he could fool her or the others into thinking he was Jaune. She had confronted him a just few days ago to tell him she knew he wasn't Jaune. Arthur had seen how hurt she was when she said it. She had begun to argue that she might be wrong that she was just trying to get used to the fact that after the attack that he was just acting different.

She went on to say that his personality only changed because of the life or death experience he went through that made him act different. She said she read a book saying that when people experience traumas they tend to change. She had tried so desperately to prove herself wrong. To prove that she was just imagining things. And just when she asked him if she was wrong to finally be proven wrong she was only met with the truth.

He stopped hiding then he told her she was right that he wasn't Jaune. He had expected her to scream and hit him to be angry to hate him. Instead she just cried. And that was far worse than any physical harm someone could cause him. For seven and a half months he had tried to hide the truth but there was no hiding it. How could he when he was confronted with the people who knew Jaune best. At the time all he was left with doing was just hold the poor girl as she cried.

Even then he had expected to be struck anything to show that she was angry, but still nothing she just cried. He remembered spending at least an hour before she finally stopped. It hurt to just watch. He was a war torn king who has both seen and done things far less than moral without a second thought but when he was presented with a young girl crying he was at a loss. So when she finally stopped crying he prepared himself for her to lash out at him in some way.

While he had expected to be struck what had really happened caught him even more off guard. At the time instead of screaming or hitting she just smiled and thanked him. It was such a strange situation he had no way of reacting other than being frozen in both shock and wonder at the girl. He still remembered her words. _"Thank you for not letting my brother's memory die."_

He was at such a loss at the time he had just lost the ability to speak from her reaction. He had never once believed that the girl would be willing to thank him for taking away her brother. At the time all he could do when his shock wore off was apologize to her. He continued to apologize for what felt like forever at the time till Lily stopped him. She shocked him even more with how well she had taken everything.

She was but a child with little experience in loss and yet she was the one who had been the calmest at the time. When she stopped him from apologizing she had said she forgave him. She told him that ever since the attack by the shadow beast happened she had her worries that he was different. She had asked all her sisters, her mother and even Jeremiah if they felt the same and they all said yes.

While Jeremiah was the voice of reason for them saying that he only changed because of the traumatic experience telling them not to worry about. It was funny it was like he was the one trying so desperately to hold onto the memory of his son. While over time the rest of the girls just decided to accept the change not wanting to face the painful truth. Lily was the only one though to continue on with her questioning.

She had only done so in hopes to be proven wrong but in the end she only found that it was all true. It had hurt her but she was stronger than Arthur had though. After finding the truth she forgave him. It was such a shocking turn of events that at the time Arthur was left with little to do other than tell the truth.

While he left out most of his history he explained to the young girl at the time that he was not Jaune that he was someone else who had been given his body. It was such a strange conversation. While he found that all Lily cared for was the fact that Jaune was gone he still felt she deserved to know why at the time. This was all before he confronted the assassin so it at least helped him at the time to steal himself for what he had planned.

This had all happened no more than a week ago and now here he was sitting on the roof of the Arc house with the only person in the family that really cared to know the truth. It pained him to think that everyone else in the family didn't want to know what really happened but when he thought about it more he could understand why they didn't want to know.

It would have been too painful for them to really bier. While Lily had accepted it she was really only let her emotions settle. She had her doubts from the beginning and she couldn't get rid of them like the others she was just too close to Jaune to not see the difference between Arthur and him. While the others where close they all had been willing to live out a fairy tale were their brother was still with them.

Sad but Arthur couldn't go against it. He was the one who filled their fantasy who let them believe Jaune was still alive. So in truth their fantasy no their lie of a life was of his making. He was the one to blame for that so what could he do. Destroy that lie or fuel it till they came to the truth them self. Neither set well with Arthur but he really wasn't the one to decide that. It was their choice to live a lie so it was their choice to destroy it.

With a deep breath Arthur lifted himself up and stared up into the sky as he closed his eyes and leaned his head back letting the suns rays to fall over him. Lily still sat down at his side staring up at him as he did so. With a sigh he opened his eyes and reached out towards the sun as if he was trying to grab it.

"I know I told you this once before but let me tell you again." He spoke up as he closed his hand in a fist before turning back to Lily with it held out in front of his chest. "I will bring you back your brother. You have my word."

He said as he saw the small smile form on Lily's lips as she stood up and reached out and grabbed hold of his closed hand in both of hers.

"I know you will, so thank you."

She smiled as a few tears fell down her cheeks. She knew it was just a dream though. He brother was gone even if Arthur said a part of him was still alive in side of him a part that was more than just a memory she had resigned herself to the fact that she would never see her real brother again. No matter how much she wanted to she knew that was a wish that couldn't come true.

Still she couldn't help the small hope she felt when Arthur said this. She knew that she wouldn't meet Jaune gain but she couldn't help the small wish from at least wanting to come true. So she fueled Arthurs resolve.

The former king let out one last sigh before turning back to look up at the sky. 'No matter what I will bring Jaune back.' with that final thought Arthur reached out and gave Lily one last hug before turning to leave. He walked over to the edge of the roof and gave her his farewells as he jumped down to go and talk with Qrow. Lily just watched with a small smile as he left. "Thank you."

It was but a whisper but she knew Arthur heard her. With that she just leaned back and looked up o the sky to watch the clouds with a small smile.

End

 **AN/ yea, new chapter. Again I need reviews to see if you readers like the story and help understanding what I did wrong to try and fix it. I do hope you leave one. Also fav and follow if you wish.**


	7. Chapter 7

A king's return

Chapter 7 more questions

Arthur was leaning against a tree just outside of the arc residence waiting for one Qrow Branwen to finish up with the last part of his conversation with Jeremiah. Arthur had decided that it would be best to speak with the old crone alone seeing as he had some questions to ask the man that were better to be asked without the worry of Jeremiah or the others hearing.

While someone eavesdropping wasn't a real worry for the former king he still thought it would be best not to get others involved in this matter. Though he still felt slight regret about Lily knowing about him and his situation he steeled himself and prepared to put his plan into motion. While he still had a day or two he was going to put the plan to work to the best of his ability.

He heard footsteps come from his right as he turned to see Qrow walking down the path waving goodbye to Jeremiah who was at the door to the house waving off the old crone before going back inside. The knight waited a few seconds before moving out from the tree line as he stood at the edge of the path so the old crone could see him.

The old crone noticed him as the former king came into view and quickly took a swig from his flask before making his way towards the former king. As the old crone closed in coming to the side of the former king with a small wave.

"So I take it you want to talk."

The old crone said with a flat tired tone as he ran a hand through his hair. The former king rolled his eyes at the man as he shook his head.

"I do wish to talk, but don't act like it's such a hassle." The former king said as he crossed his arms as he watched the old crone just shrug.

"Fine, whatever let's get started." The old crone said as he waved the former king on as he took out his flask again and took another swig. The former king just stared at the old crone questioningly before shaking his head.

"If you wish." The former king paused as he rubbed the back of his head as he continued to watch the old crone down his flask. 'This man certainly knows how to drink.' He thought before shaking his head and bring himself back on topic.

"Alright let's start with if you learned anything from Jeremiah."

The former king began.

"Sorry but all I got from Jeremiah was the same stuff you already told me last night about the new Beowulf as we call those shadow hounds and the murders. Well everything but what you said about the weird skull face assassin dude, but other than that you and he were on the same page for most of it."

The old crone said as he put his flask away as he then stretched his arms above his head waiting for the former king to continue. Arthur turned from his cupping his chin in thought as he went over what the old crone said. From what he could put together with that it seems Jeremiah was making the same connections about the whole ordeal with his own investigation.

While anyone would come to the same conclusion seeing as that was what all the for lack of a better word evidence would point to. 'At least he doesn't know about assassin.' The former king thought as he turned back to looked at the old crone.

"If that's what you learned that is fine. Now tell me what you know in full about the murders outside of the village in the surrounding villages and this city of yours."

The former king said as he waved a hand to the old crone. Qrow just let out a sigh as he rubbed the back of his head giving Arthur a questioning look. Arthur could see the man was doubting whether he should tell or not. 'Not surprising seeing as he has no trust in me, just as I have no trust in him.'

The former king thought as he waited for the man to talk. In truth if Arthur was in his place he would be acting just like him. Though he needed answers, and he was going to get them. He could not just wait he would take action. He took a deep breath before stepping forward towards the old crone.

"I understand that you have doubts about me but I will not stand by and let you lie to me so I will stop you now from even thinking one up. So tell me the truth."

The former king said as stepped up to the old crone locking eyes with him. The old crone stared wide eyed for a second as he thought about what to do. Arthur knew he was making a rash decision with what he just did but he also knew he could only do so much with such little information. He needed to make his position clear he will not be used. He had a goal he had a reason to act, so he will not let anyone stand in his way of bringing Jaune back.

"W-well, you see I am not at liberty to give you the full information remember what I said about you interfering."

The old crone said as he held his hands up at his side. This got a reaction from Arthur who gave a small smirk.

"Now I would believe you had I not dug into the accusations you made against me last night." The former king paused as he saw the former king as he flinched slightly. "You see Jeremiah is a resourceful man seeing as he wishes for all his children to be well informer by giving them books to learn from. It doesn't matter what subject he informs them with, he even had books on law."

The former king said as he saw some of the color drain from the old crones face at that.

"W-wait, you don't mean…"

The former king was stopped by Arthur as he raised his hand before him.

"You see Sir Brawnen, You said I was impeding your investigation, but from what I read to impede in your investigation I would have to have the intent of doing so. You made accusations that you won't even be able to corroborate seeing as from your actions and what I have heard from your conversation with Jeremiah you don't seem to be a proper Hunter."

The former king said as Qrow just stared completely shocked by his words. The old crone began to mimic a fish as seemed to be lost on whatever to say giving the former king the chance to continue.

"Now if what I put together from what I have heard from Jeremiah and you adding in what I have seen of you I can say you are but a shadow pawn. You say you serve the people as a huntsman but from all I have seen from you is a man slinking in the shadows taking the role of an assassin."

The former king said as the old crone just stared off in utter shock as he found no words. Qrow did his best to shake off his shock as he began to talk.

"N-now hold on, I am not an assassin I am trying…"

"Trying to help the people, how does one help the people when they hide themselves in the shadows just like an assassin?!"

Qrow was interrupted though as the former king snapped at him. This time Qrow didn't pause from shock as he shot back at the former king.

"Now listen to me, I am not an assassin and whether I act out in the open or in the shadows has no value I am acting in the interest of the greater good!" the old crone snapped in Arthurs face who simply stood and watched him as he stepped up and got right in front of him leaving only a few inches between the two before starting again.

"Do you want to know why I act in the shadows, do you want to know why I keep people from knowing what I do!" the old crone's remark seemed to intrigue the former king who just raised a brow at the man with a small smirk.

"And do tell why are so secretive."

The former king pushed the topic as the old crone growled in displeasure at him.

"I act in secret because if the world knew of what is really happening they would be in panic the people will start being afraid of everything and that fear would end up feeding the Grimm making them stronger! So why would I let the people know of what I do if they would begin to fear everything and that fear would destroy us!"

That got a reaction from the former king who took on a questioning gaze before realization hit him as he brought his hand up to cup his chin. 'I remember reading that these Grimm feed on fear and negative emotions. If they feed on negative emotions that would mean if people started to panic the Grimm will indeed become stronger.'

The former king thought as he saw the old crone still glaring at him. He just let out a tired sigh as he saw the old crone was about to start ranging again.

"Wait stop right there."

The former king said raising his hand up stopping the old crone before he could begin. The old crone was about to start but Arthur stopped him.

"Look I understand now." The former king said as he took a step back and bowed to the man. "I am sorry for the accusation I have made I was only worried about whether to trust you or not seeing as you kept so secretive, I was only worried about what you were trying to do so I couldn't trust you." He paused as he let out a sigh.

"I still don't trust you but I have reason to start trusting you now that you have told me this."

Arthur said as he stood back up from his bow and looked at the man. The old crone had a confused look as he slowly pieced together what happened. The former king stood as he even thought about what he had said. While his words seemed to have taken effect on the old crone he had not really been expecting them to work.

He was worried that everything he had read would not add up. While yes Jeremiah had books on law for his daughter Clarisse seeing as she had a want to do something in law. He had been worried that the man would take that as reason to just turn on him. Though the former king was only taking a long shot with what he learned but he could now see that it was working.

'Thank god I wasn't wrong now if he only believes I was testing him.' The former king thought as he watched the old crone's eyes widen as he now stared at him like he was insane.

"What is wrong with you, why the hell would you do something like that I thought you were serious?!"

The old crone shouted at him as he rubbed a hand over his face. The former king felt a wait leave his shoulders as he saw the old crone take a drink from his flask.

"You should be more careful when you try and test someone like that what if I was an assassin like you said I could have slit your throat, what would you have done then."

The old crone questioned only to get a laugh from the former king.

"Now I wouldn't need to worry about that. Even if you were an assassin do you really think I would test you and not be prepared for if you were an assassin." The former king said as he waved his left and as the old crone noticed there was a distortion as the air in front of him shifted to reveal a spear of air flouting before his face.

The old crone gulped as he finally noticed the weapon of air. 'How did I miss that?' The old crone thought in shock as he looked back to the former king who just laughed lightly at the man. While yes he had reason to believe some of what the man said he has yet to trust him so if he was indeed an assassin he would never take the chance of letting him kill him.

The old crone turned to the former king who just gave him a small smile as he dispelled the "invisible air".

"You see I was a king so I am no stranger to assassin's cheap tricks."

Arthur said as he turned and looked up at the sky as clouds passed overhead. He let out a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair as he gave a sideward glance to Qrow who just took out his flask and drank from it again. 'This man drinks far more than anyone I have ever known.' The former king thought as he let out a small chuckle.

"Why are you laughing?" Qrow asked as Arthur just waved off handedly.

"It is nothing." The former king paused as he realized he had gotten off track. "Listen Qrow I have to make a request."

Arthur said taking a more series tone catching Qrow off guard. The old crone put his flask away as he looked over the former king questionably.

"Alright what do you need?"

The old crone questioned. While he wasn't really sure he could do much to help him he still felt it would be best to hear him out as he waited for the former king's request.

"I would like for you to take me with you out of Eden."

The old crone paused as he stared at the former king with slightly wide eyes as he stared at him.

"You want to join me in my travels?"

The old crone questioned slowly as he watched the former king nod. That left Qrow with more than a few questions till he remembered what happened with the assassin threatening Jeremiah's family. Arthur was the reason for that. With that in mind the old crone now understood why Arthur wanted to join him.

The old crone was going to need to work on this. He couldn't bring the former king with him but he still had doubts about the man with everything that's happened and with what he's seen he could tell the man didn't trust him and to be honest Qrow didn't trust the former king as well. Though he wanted to keep Jeremiah and his family safe just like the former king did so Qrow let out a deep breath.

"I guess I understand why you want to leave with me but I have to know, are you leaving because you want to protect Jeremiah and his kids or do you want to leave because you don't care what happens to them."

The old crone stepped forward into the former king's space as he stared him done. The old crone watched as Arthurs eyes hardened as stepped forward just like Qrow did to him leaving only two inches between the two.

"I want to protect them, I would never put them in danger." The former king paused as he took a deep breath before continuing. "I understand that I am the one that put them in danger, but I didn't do it willingly so don't you dare question me like I am some criminal."

The former king said as he glared at the old crone who glared back before let out a sigh and running a hand through his hair as he took a step back from the former king.

"Alright, I believe you." Qrow paused as he looked back to the arc household. "Do they know you are going to be leaving?"

The old crone questioned as he gave a small nod to the house as Arthur gave a small glance to it.

"No, but I will tell them now." He paused as he saw the skeptical look the old crone gave him. "I was holding off on telling them because I didn't know if you would agree to my request, s would you be kind enough to wait till I come to talk with you."

The former king said as he saw the realization hit the old crone who started to nod slowly as he gave a small nod before he looked up to the sky. 'Well the day could have ended far worse.' The old crone thought as he took out his flask again and started to drink. Arthur just looked up at the roof of the house to see Lily sitting on it starting at the sky.

'If only things could be different.' The former king thought as he let out a tired sigh as he began to plan for what was going to happen when he told Jeremiah and the others.

 **Four days later.**

Arthur was walking down the main road of Eden heading towards the inn/tavern Qrow had told him about the four days prior. He was dressed in a red long sleeved t-shirt with a black coat on over top of it as well as black jeans and black boots, he also had a duffle bag thrown over his shoulder with a white sheathed sword with a blue leather wrapped handle.

He was on his way to leave Eden with Qrow seeing as he was finally allowed to leave after he convinced Jeremiah and the others to let him go. It took Arthur some time to convince Jeremiah to let him go and then some to convince the others. Arthur had the most trouble in convincing Isabel to let him leave seeing as she didn't want her son to go away.

Arthur had also thought that she was worried that when he was gone she would realize that her son was really gone. Not metaphorical but literally. In truth he couldn't blame her seeing as she did lose her son and was in denial. So seeing as now that Arthur was really leaving her and the others would be forced to face the truth.

Though the former king had little he could do seeing as he had to leave or put them at even more risk. He didn't want them to face the truth but he couldn't stay, he had to leave and if that meant them finally coming to terms with reality and he could only let it happen. While after convincing the old hunter and his family to let him go they threw a party as a farewell party.

It was weird seeing as it was Jeremiah's idea and the others were clingier not really wanting him to go, all but Lily that is seeing as she knew the truth about who he was. She stuck to him like the others but was more willing to let go. Although she did keep saying he didn't have to leave. She was the closest to Jaune and she would always compare Arthur to him so he could understand why she wanted to convince him to stay.

Although he could tell she was willing to let him go she was still like the others, she wanted to live the dream her brother was still around so it was understandable that she would try and convince him to stay. While Arthur was fine with that he knew he couldn't stay so he did his best not to let them sway his judgment.

While he had enjoyed the party it was what happened afterwards that had left him somewhat confused. Jeremiah had taken Arthur away from the others to talk in his study. While in the study he explained things about his family going on about family tradition. The old hunter had trouble going over the tradition filling in the parts he didn't know with gibberish seeing as he wasn't sure what the traditions were really about.

It was funny to tell the truth. While Jeremiah went about the explanation when he finally started to get to the end he went over to a long wooden box that sat on the bookshelf at the very top. Jeremiah started to say his goodbye as he opened the box and handed the sword to the former king. Arthur was still confused by the words Jeremiah left him with.

" _Look I wasn't really ever going to give this to you, but now that you are leave I guess I don't have much choose it's a tradition. Now my dad gave this to me and he said someday I will give this to my son. Looks like that day has come at least… well you should just take it."_ The way Jeremiah had phrased that showed that he had doubts about who Arthur was, but was more concerned about trying to keep his family traditions a love along with his son.

Though Arthur was confused at why Jeremiah gave him the sword that he now carried with him. The former king reached up and pulled the sword from the duffle bag as he walked and look at it. The former king found the weapon quiet beautiful for such a simple weapon. From what Jeremiah had told him it seems that the sheath also turned into a shield.

While Arthur wasn't one to use a shield he still knew how and seeing as the weapon would make a great back up or even the weapon he use when he is low on mana and can't keep up the "invisible air" to conceal Excalibur. As well as hide his identity even better by using the weapon. He remembered the name of the sword from one of Jaune's memories.

It was called Crocea Mors. It seemed the sword was a very important part of the young man's past being the subject of many of the young boy's memories. In most of them Jaune would always talk about how one day he would carry the sword just like his father. That was a nice thought seeing as Jaune held his father in very high esteem. Though Arthur felt some guilt when he thought about the way Jaune saw his father and how Jeremiah had seen him.

It was the complete opposite of how Arthur had seen his son. He didn't hate Mordred but he never did show him how much he cared about him. He was his son and all Mordred ever wanted was to prove he was worthy of being his son. Of being his successor. And in all truth Arthur had wanted him to be his successor.

Arthur knew Mordred was more than worthy but he couldn't get over the fact that he was also Morgan le Fay's son. He was born from a sin, and Arthur had let his regrets show through as distain for his son. In the end he didn't even look his son in his eyes when he killed him because of the regret he felt over everything he did to him and he couldn't bring himself to even look at the mistake he made.

That was what pained Arthur most. It wasn't the fact he killed his son but the fact he thought of him as a mistake. While he wasn't the son he had planned to have especially the fact that he was born between him and his sister. It was nothing but a sin for him at the time, but now all he can do is hope he can repent for what he had done.

He wished he had more of a relationship with Mordred like Jeremiah had with Jaune. The former king truly wanted that seeing as if he had such a relationship with Mordred maybe his life would have been better and he wouldn't have been the cause for his kingdoms downfall. With that thought the former king let out a sigh as he decided to leave that train of thought for later as he looked up to see if he was still on the right path to the Inn/tavern Qrow had told him about.

When he looked up he could see the people walking around taking care of their daily lives heading from stand to stand and shop to shop buying what they need. It was nice to see such sights it reminded him of Camelot. With that final thought Arthur saw the tavern he was told about with Qrow sitting in the front of it downing a pint of beer. 'Why am I surprised?'

The former king thought as he shook his head as he came up to the old crone. The former king pulled a seat out across from the old crone as he watched him.

"Well you took your time."

The old crone said as he waved to the server to come over as he raised his pint signifying he needed a refill. The former king just let out a tired sigh as he looked at the old crone with a dead pan stare.

"Do you really think I wanted to take so long to leave?" The former king paused as he let out a sigh before continuing. "I had to try and convince Jeremiah and the others to let me leave."

The former king said with a slight chuckle as he remembered how clingy the girls were again. The old crone just rolled his eyes at the former king as he took a swig from the pint and slowly put it back on the table.

"Well whatever, it looks like you are ready so give me a minute to finish my pint and then we can go."

The former king raised a brow at the man as he looked at him as he picked up his pint to take another drink.

"Fine but tell me where will we be heading when we leave?"

The former king asked as he leaned back into his seat as the old crone put the pint back down with a sigh.

"We will be heading to a town called Right, I have been told I could find some leads there to an investigation I am working on."

The old crone said as he reached into his shirt and pulled out what looked to be strange plastic cards. He counted them before putting two of them on the table as he took another drink from his pint with a smile. Arthur just gave a confused stare as he thought over what the man said.

"Why would anyone name a village called Right, that's such an odd name." the former king paused as he took a second to think over why he should really follow the man. "I take it you want me to help you."

The former king said to withc the old crone just laughed as he put his pint down.

"Sorry but no, you have no idea what I am investigating so don't worry about helping me."

The old crone said to which Arthur just nodded contently.

"If you say so." The former king said as he leaned back and looked up at the sky. 'Well at least I don't have to worry about having to deal with anything that doesn't concern me.' He thought as he decided to wait for the old crone to finish up his pint and leave to start his journey.

END.

 **AN/ yeah new chapter, this took some time but it should be worth it so I hope you people like it. Also leave me a review. I need to know what you think about the story so please to leave your thoughts it helps me to know that you guys like the story. Also I want to know what I could fix while I am still a new writer I do hope I can get better and I have a beta who will be coming through fixing the grammar so don't worry I that should get better in time.**


	8. Chapter 8

A king's return

 **AN/Hello people.**

Chapter 8

Qrow and Arthur sat on the back of a carriage as they traveled along a road on the side of a mountain. Arthur leaned to the side looking over the edge at the bottom as he saw a flock of birds flying below them. As he looked over he turned to look up the face of the cliff at the top where large platforms were built into the mountain just below the top of it.

"What's the matter Arthur, afraid of heights?"

Qrow quiped only to have a pebble hit him in the face as Arthur laid down in the carriage as Qrow rubbed his forehead.

"No, I am not, but I am just wondering what the village we are going to is like, it's odd for there to be a village so high up a mountain."

The former king said as he laid back putting his arms behind his head as he waited for the carriage to continue on its assent up the mountain. The old crow just sighed as he pulled his scroll out.

"This village is one of Vale's major resupply airports."

The old crow said causing Arthur to raise a brow questionably.

"Airport?"

Arthur said confused as till he thought back on the flying metal transport things from some of the villages they have been in. Qrow just rolled his eyes having forgotten that Arthur wasn't accustomed to modern technology as well as modern transport.

"Yes, an Airport, it allows for airships from Vale a safe landing to refuel as well as resupply before heading out again to reach the border villages."

The old crow said as Arthur nodded before sitting up looking at him questionably.

"Wait, if this is like a resupply port for ships, why did we not take an air ship from the villages we have already visited to get here?"

Arthur asked confused as to why Qrow had let them waste 2 months traveling by foot and carriage if they could have just taken an airship to this port to reach Vale. The old crow though was ready for this question as he turned his scroll around to show the former king a map of the route they had traveled.

"You see we didn't pick up an airship earlier is so we could investigate the village's we passed through on our way here."

Qrow said getting a nod from Arthur as he understood, what he was saying as he saw the map. It made since now seeing as if they did pick up an airship earlier they would have just passed all six villages they passed through. Even if they would have saved time they wouldn't have been able to keep up with the investigation of the Shadows, or even the investigation Qrow was working on. Even if Arthur didn't know the full details behind it. He did know though that Qrow was looking for information on some criminals who attacked someone he knew.

That was all Arthur knew about Qrow's investigation and while he didn't truly care for all the information he still was bothered with how guarded the old crow was about the whole thing. But he could overlook it for now seeing as it didn't concern him. Arthur sighed as he laid back down and continued to wait for the ride to be over. Qrow did the same as he pocketed his scroll and leaned back and took a drink from his flask. After about an hours trek up the mountain the carriage finally came to a stop at the gates of the village.

Qrow and Arthur jumped off of the back of the carriage thanking the driver as he nodded to them as Qrow threw him a small stack of Lien. As Arthur looked at the currency he couldn't help but feel disappointed in how currency worked in this world. Back in Camelot the currency was that of silver, copper and gold coins, an actual valued substance over how in this world currency was that of weird plastic cards that had no real value. He just shook his head at the transaction and looked up at the walls that stood before them.

Surprisingly they were metal; unlike every other village they have visited so far this village seemed to be more advanced than the others in its construction. Arthur followed the top of the wall where he could see guards and strange mounted objects that moved on their own. 'Are they like golem's?' He thought as they reminded him of the golem's Merlin had made once when explaining mage craft. As he looked over the wall he couldn't help but think back to Camelot back when its walls stood.

"This is the village of Dodge."

Qrow said getting a nod from Arthur before looking back up the wall. Qrow followed his gaze as he saw him looking at the sentry turrets at the top.

"Those up there are automated Sentry turrets, when the walls are attacked these turrets will attack whatever is attacking the wall."

Qrow said only to be ignored as Arthur walked along the wall looking up it. Qrow just stared at him for a second before following.

"What is it?"

The old crow asked as Arthur slid his hand over the wall.

"I am just thinking about the past."

The former king said as he turned to see a man walking up to him and Qrow. He patted the crow on the chest and pointed as he turned to see the man.

"Hello there, who might you two be?"

The man asked as he walked up his hand resting on a pistol holstered on his left leg. Arthur figured them examining the wall put him on edge as he gave a small bow to the man as Qrow just waved.

"My name is Qrow Branwen this here is Arthur Pendragon; we came here to pick up an Air ship to Vale."

Qrow said as he pulled out his scroll and showed it to the man. Arthur had seen Qrow do this several times when dealing with village guards and watchmen. He had asked about it in the past and it seems he has an identification he has to provide to most village guard and watchmen before he can get cooperation from them. The man who walked up looked at Qrow's scroll nodding as he pulled out his own and connected a weird plastic string to it. Arthur looked to Qrow for an answer but he simply stared ahead at the man. After a few seconds the man nodded and smiled.

"Well seems you are who you say you are, if you are looking for a ship to take you to Vale just head in to the docks and buy yourself a ticket, but don't bet on getting a ship to take you for a while."

The man said as he turned around about to leave only for Qrow to stop him.

"What do you mean, why will it take a while to get a ship?"

The old crow asked as the man just rubbed the back of his head.

"You see there have been an increase in Nevermore activity recently and all air travel in and out of the dodge has been halted because of it."

The man said waving offhanded as he looked up at the wall.

"So far we have lost two supply ships to the damn birds, not much we can do about it though, we don't have the fire power to take down the Nevermore."

The man said turning away leaving while Qrow just sighed tiredly.

"Well that's great, who knows how much time it will take before the air clears up."

Qrow said while Arthur just raised a brow at him.

"What are you talking about, we just take an airship and if we happen to get attacked we will just kill whatever is attacking."

The former king as Qrow rolled his eyes at him as the two walked into the village.

"It won't be that simple, Nevermore all vary in size, even growing to the point that they are bigger than our airships."

Qrow said as Arthur nodded cupping his chin in thought. If Nevermore were the avian Grimm and could grow to extreme size's it certainly would be foolish to take to the sky with the risk of such a creature attacking them. Still Arthur didn't feel like wasting time waiting to reach Vale. Qrow had told him that the man he works for could help him understand things in this world better, so he would like to reach Vale as soon as possible.

"If the Nevermore are the problem than let's remove them."

Arthur said as Qrow looked to him somewhat confused.

"What do you mean, do you want to go and kill a flock of Nevermore?"

Qrow asked as he saw Arthur nod causing him to groan.

"As good as an idea as that is Nevermore aren't like normal birds, they don't need nests, and if they have one it's probably miles away. It would take us weeks to find them and even if we did we have no guaranty that…."

Qrow began only to stop as he turned around to find Arthur gone as he looked around to see Arthur heading after the man who had met them at outside the village. 'God damn it there is not enough liquor in the world that can give me a headache like he does!' Qrow thought as he ran after Arthur. When he caught up with him he found him talking to the man they had met earlier. He quickly ran up to him as the man waved and left as Arthur gave him a small bow.

"Arthur, what the hell are you doing, I wasn't…"

Qrow began ready to yell at Arthur only to stop as he put a piece of paper in his face.

"The man, Alex was his name, gave me these numbers saying they were the quadrants to the nest the Nevermore's are using. He said it's not that far from the village which is why they are causing so much trouble. He said if you put these numbers in your scroll it will show us were to go."

Arthur said as Qrow just stared at him shocked.

"How did you get this information?"

He asked as he took the paper and looked it over before putting it into his scroll to see if it worked, and low and behold it gave him the location. The nest was located 10 miles out of the village. With it being so close no wonder they were having trouble with letting the airships take off, but for a nest to be so close was strange. Qrow turned to Arthur and rubbed the back of his head.

"How did you get the guard to give this to you?"

He asked as Arthur just smiled.

"I asked for it."

He said cheekily as Qrow just sighed and rolled his eyes at him.

"And he just gave it to you no questions asked."

"He asked a few questions, I answered, he called me crazy and then gave it to me."

Qrow just stared for a second not really sure how he should react to that as he sighed again.

"No way that happened; no rational man would just up and give you this information like it was nothing."  
Qrow said as Arthur just shrugged.

"I just reasoned with him for it."

Arthur said as Qrow raised a brow questionably.

"How so?"

Qrow asked wondering what reason the guard would just give this type of information to a random kid, while he knew Arthurs situation for a stranger to just up and give out such information.

"Simple, I told him that he had no reason to not give us the information. I told him if we succeeded in killing the Nevermore than we would take care of their problem, and if we did die what would two stranger's deaths mean to him."

Arthur said matter of fact as Qrow just stared at him somewhat shocked but at the same time impressed. With a sigh he nodded and showed Arthur the map and the two went to deal with the Nevermore's.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Arthur and Qrow were scaling the side of a cliff that was maybe 200 feet tall at the moment while they were about half way up it and Qrow just grumbled about how stupid an idea this was as Arthur simply climbed as he balanced himself with his invisible air while doing the same for Qrow so they didn't fall.

"So can we go over the plan again!?"

The old crow just shouted as Arthur passed a glance down to him but kept climbing.

"Simple, the Nevermore's nest is below us!" Arthur said pointing down below them at the trees where he could see the nest. "So if we forced them out of their nest and to us up on the top of the cliff we can pick off the small ones with your gun and a few well placed slashes with the 'invisible air'!"

Arthur said as Qrow just groaned again as his hand slipped for a second before getting a hold again.

"While a great idea, you seem to have forgotten that Nevermore's FLY!"

Qrow shouted frustrated at Arthur as they continued to ascend the cliff.

"Qrow you should trust in me more; believe me, this will work!"

Arthur shouted down as the old crow just sighed and figured he would do as he said. After about an hour of climbing the two of them finally got to the top of the cliff and Qrow was out of breath from the climb, not used to doing something like that in such a long time. Arthur on the other hand wasn't out of breath he was just somewhat winded, panting just a little as he looked down at the Nevermore nest smiling.

"This is where our plan takes effect, get ready, you better not run out of ammo before it's over."

Arthur said, his tone shifting as his smile fell and his sword swirled in his hand while Qrow just looked at him shocked by the shift in tone. He looked up to Arthur confused as he saw he looked different as he stood before him. It was the same way he had looked when he battled the assassin two months again. He had some sort of power to him that when Qrow saw it he couldn't help but want to either cower in fear or follow him into battle. It was odd but Qrow took a deep breath and waited for Arthur to put his plan into action.

Arthur looked at his sword before raising it up ready to send out a slash down to the nest to draw out the Nevermore. As he did though he debated on if he should use a prana burst. 'It's been 10 months' sense I woke up as Jaune, and every time I tried to do a prana burst it has damaged my body, but I should be more accustom to it now, even if I burn myself it will at least be better than blowing my hands up.' He thought as he felt the prana flow through his body into his sword as he also willed the invisible air and then slashed out sending a huge slash that was heated with the prana as it flew out crashing into the trees below as well as the Nevermore nest.

Arthur held back a wince at the pain he felt in his hands from the recoil of the slash as he looked down to make sure his hands weren't bleeding. He just sighed as he turned to look down the cliff and wait for the Nevermore's. As Qrow and Arthur stood staring down at the nest, Qrow shifted his weapon into gun form and waited for the signal to fire. Arthur took up his stance again and prepared to attack all the same. As the two waited a small rustle was seen in the trees and in the next second a swarm of small Nevermore came flying out from the trees, while a much larger Nevermore raised itself up above the tree line screeching as it did.

"Well you weren't kidding when you said they get big."

Arthur said somewhat impressed at the size of the Nevermore that came out of the trees, while not as big as the cliff it still was about 3 stories tall. Arthur just turned from it as he saw the small Nevermore's getting closer and smirked.

"Fire."

He said as Qrow began to shoot down as many of the small Nevermore as he could while Arthur charged up one large blast of invisible air and slashed out destroying almost all of the small Nevermore. He smiled at that as Qrow picked off the last of them that had lived. If he had to count he had just killed 100 of those birds. Now all he had to do was kill the large Nevermore.

"Well Qrow do you want to take this one?"

Arthur joked not really feeling all to threatened by the bird. Qrow on the other had just glared at him.

"Not the time to be joking, Nevermore's of that size are extremely resilient and their feathers are as hard as steel, so if you have any other bright idea's I wo…."

Qrow began only to stop as he watched Arthur jump off the cliff and fall towards the Nevermore as it began to flap its wings ready to fly up to them. Qrow just stared slack jawed and shocked as he watched Arthur fly right to the bird.

"That idiot!"

Qrow shouted ready to jump after him only to stop when he saw the invisible air around Arthur's sword swirl as the then slashed out sending the largest slash Qrow had seen out as it easily split the Nevermore in two as he then fell into the trees. Qrow just sat staring for a second as he watched the giant Nevermore fade away as both halves of it just laid atop the trees disintegrating. Qrow just began to laugh slowly at that as he took out his flask and downed it. 'He may be a pain in the ass be he gets results.'

Qrow thought as he saw Arthur jump up onto the trees and waved him down. At the bottom Arthur just dispersed his armor and then looked at his hands. His fingers were all bruised and the palms of his hands were cut. It seems that prana bursts were still taxing on his body, but he was glad to see it was nowhere near as bad as when he first tried it. He remembered the pain he felt from it seeing as he had almost ripped the muscle from the bones of his legs. With a sigh he looked up to see Qrow quickly making his way down. 'Now we can get to Vale. I hope this Ozpin fellow Qrow was talking about is going to be of use to me.'

Arthur thought as he turned and looked up to the sky. With a sigh he turned to see Qrow finish his landing as he fell into one of the trees near him. With that he smiled and turned to return to Dodge.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Arthur and Qrow now sat on an airship heading straight to Beacon as Qrow just took a swig from his flask with a satisfied sigh. Arthur on the other hand stood by the window staring down at Dodge as it got smaller and smaller.

"It was nice of them to let us take the first flight out."

He said with a small smile while Qrow just laughed.

"Hahahaha, I know right, who would have thought that they would be so grateful that they would even let us fly free."

Qrow said happily as Arthur just turned back to him.

"Well you heard Alex, the air fair his how the village survives if they didn't get people coming in every other day their village would end up falling apart and its economy would plummet."

Arthur said remembering how happy the guard Alex was when they came back telling him they killed the Nevermore nest.

"I know that, but I didn't think they would be that happy, I mean a reduced fare would have been kind enough but free, well I guess we has some pretty great luck."

Qrow said as Arthur just shrugged and sat down looking out the window. 'Just a few more hours and we will be in Vale.' Arthur thought as he prepared for his meeting with Ozpin. He truly hoped he would be able to help him in finding a way to give Jaune his body back. That and hopefully answers to the shadows and the mastermind pulling the strings. As he thought about that he remembered the night he killed the assassin. It was strange, that shot of lightning that had hit him. It wasn't mage craft, if it was his resistance to magic would have saved him from it.

Whatever it was that had attacked him was either a magic that surpassed his magic resistance or it was some strange lightning shooting weapon, like some sort of gun that shots lightning. He remembered Qrow mentioning something about some guns being able to do that. With a sigh Arthur leaned back and figured he could just think about it later when he was in Vale. For the time being he should just rest and wait for the ship to reach its destination.

End

 **AN/ Hello reader people, seems I was away from this story for too long, sorry about that I had just got myself distracted with writing other things and just plain old life. That and I have the attention span of a mentally retarded dog. But excuses aside I am back and writing this again for you supposedy lovely readers. Now I am back and I did a time skip while I know many of you will wonder what happened in the two months between now and Arthur leaving Jaune's home town but don't worry that will be explained. Also the reason for the time sky was I felt it would take to many chapters to explain the things and I would be wasting time with it.**

 **So as always leave a review I need to know what you people think of my story.**

 **Fav and follow if you wish.**


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